By Merit Ibe
The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), has disbursed tuition and upkeep loans to 396, 252 beneficiaries, many of whom are first-generation students in tertiary institutions in the country.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Fund, Mr Akintunde Sawyerr, who made the disclosure on Friday, during a media engagement, noted that since the fund opened its application portal in May 2024, it has made remarkable progress that is both measurable and meaningful as over 645,692 applications have been received from eligible students across Nigeria’s 36 states and the FCT. Sawyerr noted that the establishment of NELFUND is a direct result of President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which places the Nigerian youth at the heart of national development. He pointed out that of the total ₦77,034,184,108 disbursed, ₦41.7 billion was paid directly to 210 tertiary institutions as tuition fees, while ₦35.3 billion was disbursed as upkeep allowance to students.
“Behind each of these numbers are real people, young Nigerians whose dreams were once delayed or denied by circumstance, but who now carry a renewed sense of possibility,” Sawyerr stated.
He disclosed that the fund has deployed a fully digital, transparent loan portal, built to global standards, to ensure seamless processing, tracking, and verification. We expanded our framework to include students in technical and vocational training institutions, aligning with our national employment and skills development goals. We responded rapidly to issues around digital wallets and banking limitations by enabling account updates and migrating disbursements to commercial bank accounts,” he said.
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