Students Loan: NELFUND sends important message to States University students

As the Students Loan portal opens on May 24, 2024, the Nigeria Education Loan Fund, NELFUND, has revealed that students from state-owned universities would not be immediate beneficiaries, stating that the plan will only benefit students from federal government higher institutions.

At a media briefing in Abuja on Monday, the Fund’s Managing Director, Akintinde Sawyerr, also stated that only students whose institutions have uploaded their data to the fund’s dashboard would be eligible for the loan.

Besides, Sawyerr said the loan would not be paid to the beneficiaries’ account, explaining that the laon would be paid directly to the schools where the beneficiary students are studying.

He, however,said certain stipends would be paid directly to beneficiaries on monthly basis to assist them buy other things that can make them comfortable while pursuing their education.

He said the fund would soon establish a vocational skills acquisition programme for students as part of its mandate.

“We will soon begin a programme for non provision for those who want to acquire vocational skills or vocational qualifications . But the first beneciaries of this loan are students of federal institutions, at all levels. It will be for students of all government institutions going forward,”he said.

He explained that the loanees are expected to repay the loans two years after they secured jobs, either in government private or self- employed.

Sawyerr said the fund would work with security agencies to ensure that students don’t abuse the programme, hinting that those with criminal intentions would be fished out by the security agencies.