The National Assembly and the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) have agreed on a major expansion of the student loan scheme, targeting an increase in direct beneficiaries from the current 1.6 million to 7 million scholars to accelerate national transformation.
Speaking at a one-day national sensitisation programme in Abuja, the Managing Director of NELFUND, Akintunde Sawyerr, revealed that incorporating skills acquisition alongside technical and vocational education could push the scheme’s ultimate reach to 50 million Nigerians.
The sensitisation event was jointly organised by NELFUND and the Senate Committee on Tertiary Education and TETFUND. Reviewing the initiative’s progress so far, Sawyerr noted that NELFUND has already distributed N282 billion to 1.6 million students across the country.
“Today, 1.6 million Nigerian students have directly benefited from the NELFUND scheme. If we consider that the average Nigerian family consists of about five people, it means we are directly and indirectly impacting nearly 10 million lives,” Sawyerr stated.
To build on this momentum, the NELFUND boss urged stakeholders to back the aggressive scaling up of the fund’s interventions across tertiary institutions and vocational hubs.
The Deputy President of the Senate, Barau Jibrin, described the awareness campaign as vital, noting that the success of any public program relies heavily on the target audience understanding how to access it. He advocated for taking the sensitisation drive across all six geopolitical zones.
Similarly, the Chairman of the House Committee on Students’ Loans, Scholarships, and Tertiary Education Financing, Ifeoluwa Eyindero, applauded the fund’s milestone of reaching over 1.5 million students, calling the awareness campaign essential for deepening public understanding of available educational opportunities.
Earlier, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on TETFUND, Senator Muntari Dandutse, explained that the collaborative framework aligns with the committee’s constitutional oversight responsibilities.
He reaffirmed the legislature’s commitment to ensuring that quality higher education remains accessible to every Nigerian student.