President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has launched the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) emphasizing the importance of education as a vital tool in combating poverty and achieving national development.
Speaking at the official launch of the NELFUND and ceremonial disbursement of funds at the State House in Abuja on Wednesday, President Tinubu stressed that education is the greatest weapon against poverty, providing vision, development, and hope.
He noted that without education, conquering insecurity and achieving success is impossible, emphasizing that education provides the light at the end of the tunnel, no matter how slow the progress may seem.
Addressing the Board, members and the management of the Fund present at the launch ceremony, President Tinubu reaffirmed the commitment of his administration to the Renewed Hope Agenda saying democracy is all about inclusiveness.
Tinubu added that the target of his administration is to build a fair society that is built on successful inclusiveness.
“What I believe is that education is the greatest weapon against poverty in any society, without education there is no vision, there is development, you cannot successfully conquer insecurity. Education is that light at the end of the tunnel no matter how sluggish you move, it will give you the light and the hope,” he said.
The President further noted that Nigeria will continue to invest in education to empower the citizens and deploy it as a tool against terrorism, banditry and insecurity.
“We are investing, we don’t want to try ignorance as alternative, we want education from foundations to the topmost level and I am glad that leadership and its leadership accepted the responsibility.
“There is available here the hope and the genuine and commitment, inclusiveness is what democracy is all about. Today I am fufilling one of my greatest campaign agenda, You cannot find your way if you are not well educated, you cannot even fight terrorism and banditry.
“If we have successful inclusive and loan that is necessary for our people to get educated and invest in their own lives we would have built a fair society and a promise that we will earn a banner without stain to our children,” he added.
The President also symbolically presented loan cheques to students from each geo-political zones, indicating the beginning of the disbursement of the fund to qualified Nigerian students.
President Tinubu also presented cheques to Vice Chancellors of Bayero University, Kano (BUK), Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), amongst other institutions present.
In his remarks, the Chairman of NELFUND, Jim Ovia, thanked the President for the privilege to serve the nation.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to be here today for Mr. President to formally launch the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND). Mr. President, I would like to make reference to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, of which education is number four.
“The President has recognized that; hence, he inaugurated and also signed into law in February the NELFUND. We are all grateful for Mr. President’s time for inaugurating and also sanctioning the activities of NELFUND,” Ovia said.
Disclosing NELFUND portal’s key metrics from 25th May till date, the Executive Secretary and Managing Director of the NELFUND, Akintunde Sawyerr, said a total number of 164,000 students registered for the loan with total number of 103,000 of them applied.
Sawyerr revealed that a total sum of N32billion is currently available for disbursement to kick start the program.
He said the aim of NELFUND is to empower Nigerian youth by providing fair transparent funding and removing financial barriers to educational opportunities and academic pursuits.
Reeling out NELFUND’s progress since the launch, Sawyerr said the Fund got key amendments of Loan Act on the 3rd of April, 2024, secured dashboard metrics on the 25th May till date as well as the Presidential disbursement of funds on 17th July,2024.
Sawyer explained that students applied for two types of loans; one is educational fees, which is sent directly to institutions and the other is the student application for upkeep loan, which is the loan that covers monthly stipends. “Institutions collected cheque for multiple applications also students cannot get stipend unless the fees are been picked by NELFUND”, he said.
Recall that the The student loans(Access to Higher Education)Action, signed into law 3rd April 2024, is a transformative initiative empowering countless Nigerian students to pursue their educational aspirations.
Present at the launch were President of the Senate ,Godswill Akpabio, Speaker of House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, Minister of Budget& Economic Planning, Abubakar Bagudu, Minister of of Education, Mamman Tahiru, Minister of Youths, Jamila Bio Ibrahim, FIRS Chairman, Zach Adedeji, CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso.
Others are, Jamb Registrar, Prof Isiaq Oloyede; Acting Executive Secretary of National Universities Commission (NUC), Chris Mayaiki, amongst many others.
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