The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), on Monday, 15th June, 2026, held a one-day sensitisation programme for stakeholders in the North-Central Zone to deepen awareness and understanding of the Federal Government’s student loan scheme.
Participants at the programme included heads of education regulatory agencies, student union representatives, parents, legislators, and other key stakeholders in the education sector.
In his keynote address, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NELFUND, Mr. Akintunde Sawyerr, described the student loan scheme as one of the flagship initiatives of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration aimed at expanding access to higher education by providing financial assistance to Nigerian students.
He explained that the scheme was established to address the financial challenges faced by many young Nigerians seeking tertiary education and to ensure that no qualified student is denied the opportunity to pursue academic aspirations due to financial constraints.
Mr. Sawyerr stated that NELFUND had adopted a zonal approach to sensitisation in order to reach stakeholders across the country’s six geo-political zones and ensure widespread awareness of the scheme. According to him, even the most impactful programmes could achieve only limited success if intended beneficiaries were not adequately informed.
He clarified that the financial support provided by NELFUND is a repayable, interest-free loan and not a grant. The facility, he noted, is designed to enable students in higher institutions to complete their studies without undue financial hardship.
To support beneficiaries after graduation, Mr. Sawyerr disclosed that NELFUND had commenced engagements with employers of labour to facilitate employment opportunities for graduates, noting that unemployment remains one of the major challenges associated with loan repayment.
The NELFUND Chief Executive further revealed that about 1.6 million Nigerians had so far benefited from the scheme, while the Fund was targeting a total of seven million beneficiaries nationwide.
In a goodwill message, the Minister of State for Education, Professor Suwaiba Sa’id Ahmed, commended the Tinubu administration for introducing the initiative, describing it as a strategic intervention aimed at ensuring equitable access to higher education for all qualified Nigerians.
She observed that misconceptions and inadequate information had limited participation among some eligible students and encouraged those in the North-Central Zone to take advantage of the opportunities provided by the scheme.Among dignitaries in attendance were the Deputy President of the Senate, Distinguished Senator Barau Jibrin, GCON; the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Professor Abdullahi Yusufu Ribadu, FCVSN; the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFund, Senator Dandutse Muntari Mohammed; Senator Abba Moro Patrick; and heads of education regulatory agencies, among others.