‘Students In Private Tertiary Institutions Are Not Poor’ -FG Explains Exclusion From Loan Scheme

The management of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has stated that students from private tertiary institutions are not included in the Student Loan Scheme because the loan is meant for indigent students.

The Managing Director of NELFUND, Akintunde Sawyerr who spoke during an interactive session with journalists under the umbrella of the Education Writers’ Association (EWAN), argued that any student found in private tertiary institutions in Nigeria cannot be said to be poor.

He added that though President Bola Tinubu’s desire was for all students in Nigerian tertiary institutions to benefit from the loan, the loan is targeted at indigent students to ensure their access to higher education.

“I met with the President and he asked similar questions because of his belief that every Nigerian child whose parents’ taxes form the sources of the loan should benefit.

“But we cannot say because the taxpayers are the funders and so the purpose should be defeated. Any student found in private institutions in Nigeria cannot be said to be poor,” he said.

He added that mechanisms have been put in place to identify students who truly deserve the loan.

“What we are to do is wealth redistribution and not to take from the rich to pay the rich again. We target only those who truly deserve it and we have our mechanisms to confirm this in place. Applicants’ BVN is one of such,” he said.

Sawyerr however noted that inmates from correctional service’s custodial centres studying in higher institutions such as the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) are excluded because it will be difficult to offer loans to them since they are serving jail terms.

“The money is not a grant but a loan that is recoverable but how do you recover a loan from somebody serving life sentence or prolonged jail term? Even when they are out, there could be difficulties securing jobs that will enable them to repay,” he said.