Student Loan Scheme Set For Take Off With 1.2M Beneficiaries

The Student Loan Scheme of the Tinubu-led Administration os set to kick off with about 1.2 million beneficiaries.

Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND’s) Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (MD/CEO), Mr. Akintunde Sawyer said the loan scheme will take off soon after President Tinubu signed it into law on April 3.

It will be funded with one per cent of the total annual collectable revenue by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS). The FIRS has already been given a revenue target of N19.4 trillion.

If the target is met, N194 billion will be available as a loan to the beneficiary students and repayment, according to the law, will commence two years after the completion of the National Youth Service Corp (NYSC).

Commenting on the scheme, the NELFUND CEO said;

“We don’t expect to have more than 1.2 million students in the first instance. As time goes on, there will probably be expansion.

“For the successful applicants, we will be paying their fees – the full amount – directly to the institutions.

“There will also be a stipend paid to the individuals. At a regular interval, the beneficiaries will receive an amount of money for their upkeep so that they can do the basic things – feeding, photocopying handouts and data.

“They can use the stipend to ensure that there is enough opportunity for them to survive the experience of being students. We all know that students’ survival is on another level.”

On the condition to be met by potential beneficiaries, Sawyer said they would be required to provide their Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) numbers, National Identification Number (NIN), and Bank Verification Number (BVN), among other details before they can apply for the loan.

Those who are already students and seek to take the loan would need to, in addition to these conditions, provide their matriculation details. He added;

“Without a doubt, President Tinubu intends to ensure that as many Nigerians as possible get this opportunity. That is why he has vigorously pursued this opportunity on behalf of students.

“That is why all of us must join hands to ensure that capacity expansion can happen. This is not going to be an elitist programme. It is a programme that is going to drag as many people into the education net as possible.

“That is what the President intends and that is what we are going to do.”