Okoroafor A., Lagos
The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has disbursed a total of N23 billion to several individuals and 128 tertiary institutions in Nigeria.
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Speaking in Lagos recently, Akintunde Sawyerr, managing director, NELFUND, disclosed that N18 billion has been channelled to the institutions while about N5 billion has been disbursed for students’ upkeep.
“So far, we have had 326,000 individuals apply for the loan,” he said.
“A total of about N23 billion has left our account and gone to the accounts of the institutions and the accounts of individuals,” he noted.
NELFUND was set up by the federal government to ensure that students who are in school do not drop out due to lack of funds.
Students register for the loans online, and all the approval processes happen online.
“NELFUND is saddled with the responsibility of providing loans to Nigerian citizens who are able to gain admission or already have admission into tertiary institutions owned by the government, both at federal and state ownership levels.
“So, students who are Nigerian citizens, who are either already in those institutions or in future gain admission into institutions, can apply for loans. And we can provide those loans for their tuition or their institutional charges, and we are also able to provide them with stipends, or pocket money, if you like,” he disclosed.
He said applications occur only once a year, noting that once accepted, NELFUND pays monthly upkeep to the students directly to their bank accounts.
“We’re also saddled with the additional responsibility of vocational and skills training to Nigerians who are interested or have the capacity to go and take on education on the skills side and handcrafts. So, we can also provide loans for those sorts of candidates at government-approved institutions,” he said.
On sources of funding, NELFUND MD noted that the law stipulates that the agency will be funded by receiving 1 percent of the Federal Inland Revenue Service’s (FIRS) collections.
“So, we think that will end up being something like N19 billion or so. This agency should receive about N194 billion.”
He further said that the law allows the agency to solicit for funds from other sources.
“One is to solicit for funds from other sources. So, it may be those who want to invest in education in Nigeria, not necessarily for a financial return, or those who want to donate either to the Fund across the board or for specific types of applicants.
“We also have the power to invest the funds that we have for return. So there are many opportunities for us to grow the funds and to try to make it sustainable.
“We already have certain interventions that have been made. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), for example, donated N50 billion in proceeds of crime. We also have had a directive to TETFund to provide us with N141 billion, of which they’ve given us N71 billion.
“We’ve had an appropriation of N60 billion, of which we’ve received N10 billion, and we are expecting another N50 billion. And, then, I believe there’s a bill going through the National Assembly at the moment where we’ll be receiving, I think, 20 percent of TETFund’s proceeds. So there are funding sources.”
He noted that NELFUND will not put pressure on graduates to repay the loans unless they get jobs.
“There’s no obligation on the loanees to repay the loans until two years after they have completed their NYSC. And even after two years, there’s no obligation to repay the loans unless a person has a job.
“Two years after NYSC, there’s a reporting requirement for us to know what the status of the individual is. If they don’t get jobs for the next 10 years, which is not the plan, then they don’t pay the NELFUND any money. Additionally, the obligation to repay is on the employer who is obliged by law to give us a proportion of the funds that they are paying as a salary to the employee.
“Our guidelines have determined that to be 10 percent. So, even after this two-year moratorium, it’s designed to ensure that the employer, who’s really benefiting from the intervention of Nelfund, is the one obliged to take 10 percent and repay the fund.”
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