The Student Loan Initiative, otherwise known as the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), was established by the federal government in 2023 to provide financial resources and terminate frustrations and anxiety experienced by Nigerian students in realising their dreams of acquiring tertiary education. By providing interest-free loans to students, the programme is poised to reshape the academic landscape in making funds easily accessible by students entrapped in financial challenges.
Considering the fact that the NELFUND initiative aligns with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s vision of making education affordable by Nigerians, this loan scheme aims to tackle and obliterate financial constraints and broaden the horizon for academic pursuits, including providing the means for greater access to higher education; collaborate with stakeholders for impact and providing equal opportunity for Nigerian students in the pursuit of education for development purposes. With the coming into being of the Student Loans (Access to Higher Education) Act, 2023, the Tinubu administration demonstrated its commitment in transforming accessibility to higher education in the country.
Since the commencement of the loan scheme in 2023, the federal government has disclosed that out of the 600,000 applicants for the loans, over 350,000 have benefited from the N70 billion NELFUND facility. Disclosing this in Minna, Niger state, at a recent conference of Commissioners for Information in APC states, organised by the Progressive Governors’ Forum, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, declared that the success recorded in the loan scheme is a practical framework upon which President Tinubu’s quest for national transformation can be assessed, especially in the evaluation of measurable opportunities for citizens’ prosperity in various sectors of the economy.
Declaring that the Tinubu government has committed approximately N70 billion for the loan scheme, the minister said: “The Renewed Hope Agenda goes beyond macroeconomic reforms. It is about creating concrete opportunities for prosperity across sectors – for individuals, for families, and for communities. From massive infrastructure investments to youth empowerment programmes and reforms in agriculture, energy, education, and innovation, the Tinubu administration is delivering a broad-based plan for inclusive growth and national renewal”.
However, the loan scheme was recently embroiled in corruption allegations. The allegations were not unconnected with reports that some tertiary schools were allegedly asking students to pay fees, even after receiving funds from NELFUND, thus violating the provisions of the loan Act. While investigations into the allegations are ongoing by the National Orientation Agency (NOA), the Federal Ministry of Education and NELFUND itself, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has dismissed the allegations as unsubstantiated. In its preliminary findings, the anti-graft agency discovered that while the sum of N100 billion was released to the scheme, only N28.8 billion was disbursed to students, leaving N71.2 billion unaccounted for.
Without equivocation, allegations of underhand dealings between schools and some banks involved in the management of the loans has been identified as the main reason behind the allegations of impropriety against NELFUND. It must be categorically said here that the mandate of the agency is to provide access to money for students whose dream of acquiring tertiary education could turn out unrealisable due to their inability to foot the cost of higher education in Nigeria. For providing financial live wire to over 350,000 indigent students whose dream would have been defeated, the loan scheme has become a pivotal to transforming tertiary education in the country. Without such a loan agency like NELFUND, it would be difficult and almost an impossible feat to actualise the academic pursuit of some Nigerian students.
Considering the laudable objectives of the scheme, it would not be out of place to review the scheme with the aim of enthroning best global practices to not only strengthen against insider abuse, but also to weed out various forms of malpractices that are capable of weakening the transparency in managing the loan scheme in order to prevent administrative lapses that often result into unauthourised deductions and delayed disbursements to students. This can only be achieved through involving tertiary students as beneficiaries and the agency to ensure effective usage of the money appropriated to students under the scheme.
Blueprint identifies with the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, who, after meeting with vice chancellors of universities on May 6, 2025, declared that nothing shall be swept under the carpet. We call on the federal government to ensure that offenders are made to face the full wrath of the law. Acts of sabotage in the management of the student loan scheme should not be allowed to go unpunished. All efforts should be on deck to avail Nigerian students of a refreshing hope for a brighter future.