The Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), has announced plans to limit interest-free student loans to courses critical to the nation’s development in the future. This was disclosed by NELFUND’s Managing Director, Akintunde Sawyerr, during an interaction with journalists in Lagos on Monday.
According to Sawyerr, the initiative is designed to prioritise loans for students pursuing courses that align with Nigeria’s developmental goals, while de-emphasising fields with limited job opportunities and low loan repayment potential.
“At the moment, all courses are treated equally because we are providing loans to students in their 300 and 400 levels who are at risk of dropping out,” Sawyerr said. “However, there is recognition that some courses, such as engineering and medical sciences, are more essential to Nigeria’s growth compared to others.”
He said there will be a time when applications will outsize available funds and choices will need to be made to apply the funds to relevant fields of study.
He revealed that approximately 335,000 students across 128 tertiary institutions have so far benefited from the scheme. Sawyerr emphasised that the shift towards prioritising critical courses is not meant to undervalue other fields but rather to address the pressing needs of a developing nation.
“This doesn’t mean we won’t fund other courses, especially those that equip students with exportable skills. Such graduates could contribute to the Nigerian economy by sending remittances back home,” he added.
Sawyerr explained that the initiative primarily targets students from government-owned tertiary institutions.
“By 2025, we aim to have at least 1.2 million students benefiting from the loan scheme. This means we would have covered the majority of students in publicly owned tertiary institutions who wish to access the loan. That is our target,” he stated.
Sawyerr disclosed that NELFUND has so far disbursed around N23 billion, with about 1,500 new beneficiaries being added daily. He noted that the scheme is primarily funded by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), which contributes one percent of its revenue. This is projected at N190 billion for the year. Additionally, the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) is expected to contribute N141 billion.
“We currently have over N130 billion in the fund, with an additional N70 billion expected to flow in. The point is, we are not short of funds,” Sawyerr assured.
On the regional distribution of beneficiaries, Sawyerr highlighted that the majority are from Northern Nigeria. However, he noted a significant increase in applications from the South-East and South-South zones due to intensified awareness campaigns.
He said the scheme would also be expanded to cover vocational training as from next year in government approved institutions.
He said their was a need to professionalise certain skills to improve service delivery and create more jobs for Nigerian youth.
Speaking on loan repayment and possibility of default, Sawyerr said the fund was more of an impact fund and not designed to run on a commercial basis.
He said that loanees are not obliged to start repayment until two year after their national service if they get a job. He explained that employers are mandated under NELFUND’s enabling law to deduct 10 percent of loanees’ salary towards repayment. Self employed loanees are also obligated to repay such loans when their companies turn a profit.
