President Bola Tinubu has launched the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), emphasising the importance of education as a vital tool in combating poverty and achieving national development.
Speaking at the official launch of the NELFUND and ceremonial disbursement of funds at the State House in Abuja on Wednesday, July 17, President Tinubu stressed that education is the greatest weapon against poverty, providing vision, development, and hope.
He noted that without education, conquering insecurity and achieving success is impossible, emphasising that education provides the light at the end of the tunnel, no matter how slow the progress may seem.
Addressing the Board, members, and the management of the Fund present at the launch ceremony, President Tinubu reaffirmed the commitment of his administration to the Renewed Hope Agenda saying democracy is all about inclusiveness.
President Tinubu added that the target of his administration is to build a fair society that is built on successful inclusiveness.
“What I believe is that education is the greatest weapon against poverty in any society, without education there is no vision, there is development, and you cannot successfully conquer insecurity.
“Education is that light at the end of the tunnel no matter how sluggish you move, it will give you the light and the hope,” he said.
The President further noted that Nigeria will continue to invest in education to empower the citizens and deploy it as a tool against terrorism, banditry and insecurity.
“We are investing, we don’t want to try ignorance as an alternative, we want education from foundations to the topmost level and I am glad that leadership and its leadership accepted the responsibility.
“There is available here the hope and the genuine commitment, inclusiveness is what democracy is all about.
“Today I am fulfilling one of my greatest campaign agenda, you cannot find your way if you are not well educated, you cannot even fight terrorism and banditry.
“If we have successful inclusive and loan that is necessary for our people to get educated and invest in their own lives we would have built a fair society and a promise that we will earn a banner without stain to our children,” he said.
The President also symbolically presented loan cheques to students from each geo-political zone, indicating the beginning of the disbursement of the fund to qualified Nigerian students.
President Tinubu also presented cheques to Vice Chancellors of Bayero University, Kano (BUK), Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), amongst other institutions present.
Disclosing the NELFUND portal’s key metrics from 25th May till date, the Executive Secretary of the NELFUND, Akintunde Sawyerr, said a total number of 164,000 students registered for the loan with a total number of 103,000 of them applied.
Sawyerr revealed that a total sum of N32 billion is currently available for disbursement to kick-start the program.
He said NELFUND aims to empower Nigerian youth by providing fair transparent funding and removing financial barriers to educational opportunities and academic pursuits.
Reeling out NELFUND’s progress since the launch, Sawyerr said the Fund got key amendments of the loan act on 3rd April 2024, secured dashboard metrics on May 25th May till date as well as the Presidial disbursement of funds on 17th July 2024.
Sawyer explained that students apply for two types of loan, one is educational fees which are sent directly to institutions and the other is the student application for upkeep loan, which is the loan that covers a monthly stipend.
“Institutions collected cheques for multiple applications also students cannot get stipend unless the fees are been picked by NELFUND.”
Recall that the Student Loans (Access to Higher Education) Action, signed into law on 3rd April 2024, is a transformative initiative empowering countless Nigerian students to pursue their educational aspirations.
Present at the launch were the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas; Chairman NELFUND Board, Jim Ovia, Minister of Finance, Wale Edun; Minister of Budget & Economic Planning, Abubakar Bagudu; Minister of Education, Mamman Tahiru; Minister of Youths, Jamila Bio Ibrahim; FIRS Chairman, Zach Adedeji; CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso.
Others are, Jamb Registrar, Prof Isiaq Oloyede; Acting Executive Secretary of National Universities Commission (NUC), Chris Mayaiki, amongst many others.
