For some students in tertiary institutions, the non inclusion of their names among the beneficiaries of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), six months after verification by the management of the Fund has become nightmares, threatening their educational pursuits.
Besides non approval or delay without any communication from the Fund before the closure of the session, the development, according to the students, is at variance with the good initiative of president Bola Tinubu’s administration’s and its commitment to assisting youth in their career prospects so as to contribute to the development of the country.
More worrisome is the fact that the Fund has closed the applications for the immediate past session, 2023/24, last month, when the affected students claim that they are yet to receive the funds even as the academic session has not ended.
The Fund had communicated some of the affected students since September that it had verified their applications.
Consequently, the affected students, who are yet to complete the academic session are anxious that they may have lost the opportunity for which they have been waiting for to avail themselves.
With the development, they are not sure whether they will be included in the new session alongside fresh applicants
The students who spoke to metrobusinessnews.com (MBN) wonder how the management of the Fund would have closed the 2023/24 applications, when those that applied since August 2024, verified the following month , September, were not yet approved for payment.
Specifically, in February, NELFUND told the world that it has disbursed N22 billion in student loans to 200,000 beneficiaries in different institutions across the country, noting that it would officially close the 2023/2024 application process and open the portal for the 2024/2025 academic session.
Akintunde Sawyerr, the Managing Director of the Fund, last month revealed at a press conference in Abuja that the 2023/2024 application process will close on February 21, 2025, while the portal for the 2024/2025 applications will open the following day, February 22.
Sawyerr also announced that the Fund has disbursed a total of N12,818,960,000 in upkeep support to 169,114 students.
According to him, “In just 220 days, we have received an impressive 364,042 applications, with an average of 1,000 applications per day. I am proud to announce that N22,736,960,971 has been disbursed to cover institutional fees across 240 institutions, directly benefiting 215,514 students. Furthermore, a total of N12,818,960,000 has been disbursed as upkeep support, reaching 169,114 students, each receiving N20,000 monthly to assist with their living expenses.”
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But, in their various reactions, the affected students expressed frustrations and disappointments over the action seemingly denying them of their rights as Nigerian students in tertiary institutions.
“There hasn’t been any update on the portal… It’s been showing verified since around September of last year. No information has been relayed on the portal,” says a student in one of the Federal Universities in the North Central region of the country.
To another student, he said,” It showed here (portal) that I registered for it August 19th and the thing has been showing verified since last year December.”
Another 300 level Medical Laboratory Science student expressed his frustration, particularly as no specific reasons were given for the delay or disapproval.
“I think the management of the Fund is doing a great disservice, particularly, to the indigent students who expressed joy and happiness since the announcement of the scheme by the president. But the joy is turning to nightmares and frustrations now since some of us have been waiting endlessly for the funds but we are yet to receive it or communicated of the disapproval. The leadership of our union said, recently, in a move seen to calm anxiety, that the disbursements are in batches. But how does one explain the announced closure of the period that some of us are yet to benefit and going ahead to open a new academic year? So, what will happen to some of us that have been waiting for the past over six months, woth the academic session yet to end.”?.
