For many Nigerian families, financing higher education has never been an easy task. Apart from paying tuition and institutional charges, students have to deal with transportation, accommodation, feeding, textbooks and other expenses that can make the educational race financially difficult.
For some students, the inability of their parents or guardians to meet these expenses can even slow down their education.
This is why the President of Federal Republic Of Nigeria, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has introduced, Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).
Since the student loan began to operate in 2024, it has grown into one of the federal government’s major initiatives aimed at reducing financial burden for tertiary education.
According to NELFUND’s Managing Director, Dr Akintunde Sawyerr, approximately 850,000 students have benefited from the loan, while more than N303 billion has been disbursed within about two years. The fund has also paid institutional fees to several tertiary institutions across the country.
Thousands of Nigerian students’ education journey has now been easier because of the intervention.
While I cannot speak for every institution in Nigeria, my experience at Gateway ICT Polytechnic, Saapade, where I recently graduated, provides an example of how intervention programmes work when institutions and the authorities cooperate effectively.
Some of my close friends who are also students of the institution have benefited from the NELFUND programme. According to the beneficiaries, the institution’s education board has made the application process easy.
After the institutional loan was received from the school’s account, the funds were transferred to the students personal accounts without unnecessary delays, to pay there tuition fees.
This is an aspect of the programme that deserves commendation.
For a student who is already struggling financially, receiving educational support on time can make a big difference. It will definitely reduce anxiety, help students remain focused on their studies and, most especially, prevent them from going into fraud to sort their education bills.
The Gateway ICT Polytechnic experience therefore explains that the success of NELFUND does not depend solely on the federal government or NELFUND itself. Educational institutions also have an important role to play in ensuring that approved funds reach the students as and when due.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu deserves commendation. Indeed, the introduction of student loan is an area where the president deserves commendation.
Education should not become a privilege only for children whose parents are rich enough to afford it. Like the President do say ‘Let The Poor Breathe’. With that slogan, parents would get some relief from the burden of financing tertiary education.
The Gateway ICT Polytechnic, Saapade experience has show what can happen when institutional cooperation works effectively.
The students loan initiative may not solve every challenge confronting Nigeria education sector, but it has helped to remove one of the biggest burdens on students who wish to study but do not have the capacity.
NELFUND is not about providing loan for fun. It is about giving the less privileged the opportunity to access good education.
On this score, NELFUND deserves to be recognised for making higher education easier and more accessible to Nigerian students.
-Folorunsho, a graduate of Strategic Communication from Gateway ICT Polytechnic, Ogun State, writes from Lagos
