National Telescope national telescope newspaper
By Funmi Ojo
The Managing Director of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), Akintunde Sawyer, has revealed that students from the southern region of the country are hesitant to apply for the student loan scheme due to doubts about its viability.
Speaking to journalists after the launch of the loan disbursement program by President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, Sawyer noted that more students from the northern region have applied for the loan due to better coordination by tertiary institutions in the area.
However, he expressed optimism that awareness is being ramped up in the south, and students in the region will embrace the scheme once they see that disbursement is in progress.
According to Sawyer, university students have applied more for the loan than students from other tertiary institutions like polytechnics and colleges of education.
He explained that private institutions have been excluded from the scheme because they charge higher school fees, and government funding would be unable to meet the expectations of the initiative.
Sawyer also disclosed that the loan scheme has received more applications from institutions in the northern part of the country, but expressed hope that the skepticism in the southern region will disappear as disbursement begins.
Meanwhile, the National President of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Lucky Imonife, has described the scheme as a new dawn for the country and the students, saying it is accessible to all students regardless of their background.
Imonife praised the scheme, saying it is a tool for fighting poverty and a good legacy for the development of the nation.
