Execute Secretary of NELFund, Dr Akintunde Sawyerr
Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) Akintunde Sawyerr has tasked ministries, Departments and Agencies on ensuring that the benefits associated with the loan reach the intended beneficiaries, as they are critical to disseminating the right information about the scheme
Akintunde gave the task during a Sensitization Roadshow organized by the fund, at the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Federal Secretariat, Abuja on Wednesday.
He said the Sensitization was aimed at increasing awareness and understanding of the scheme as well as address misconceptions with accurate information
He said the fund believes that ministries are critical stakeholders in national development and have an important role to play in creating awareness and ensuring the laudable federal government Initiative reaches its intended beneficiaries.
“I sincerely appreciate the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian. For providing this opportunity for us to engage with its management and staff. The purpose of this roadshow is to deepen awareness and understanding of NElFund’s mandate, operations and the opportunity available to eligible Nigerian students to access financial support for higher education,” he said
He commend the staff for their active participation, constructive engagement and valuable contributions during this session.
Also speaking, the Director of SERVICOM at NELFUND, Olusola Fowobaje said the fund chose the ministry of Humanitarian in the Sensitization because they are close to the grassroots in their efforts to reduce poverty in the nation.
He said the fund is of note that MDA workers may have been aware of the activities of the fund through television and social media platforms but the information may not be in depth because of their daily busy engagement in the office.
“They are parents and guardians, so they need the in-depth information of the product that NELFUND has, hence the initiative.
‘The fortunate thing about this product is that we are not selling the product. We are giving it out in the form of loans to our students, to our children in federal and state government institutions.without interest. So the CEO said we should take it to the doorsteps of our people,” he ssid
He said the Sensitization team had gone to the Ministry of Regional Development. and has equally scheduled other places including security agencies barrack for further engagement.
He explained that the Sensitization initiative became very important as information available indicated some students collect the loan and still collect school fees from their parents.
“Some students, our children, collect this loan and still collect school fees from their parents. Because the parents, most of them are not aware, especially the educated parents like you.
“We’ve gone out a lot. And that is why we are bringing it to your doorsteps, the ministries, the departments and the agencies,” he said
Fowobaje said the loan is intended to open doors of opportunities for the deprived members of the society who could not afford tertiary education because of lack of funds
” The fact that someone is my gateman, his son or his children should not open the gate for my children. And that is the initiative because they now have access.
“‘The children should not start where the father stops, Federal government has come out to say, this money is available for your children to go to school,” he said
He said the executive management of Nigerian Education Loans Fund is doing everything possible to make it very seamless, to serve Nigerians very well.
According to him, the fund will continue to provide financial assistance to eligible students in Nigerian public tertiary institutions. Ensure sustainable financing of education through a transparent and accountable loan system as part of its core mandate.
“We will continue to reduce the number of students who drop out due to financial constraints. Promote human capital development and national productivity. Advance inclusive and equitable assets to quality education,’ he said
The fund said as at October ending 2026, over 375 billion naira had been disbursed to students across the country, comprising more than 194 billion naira for institutional fees and over 180 billion for students upkeep allowances.
The staff were taken through the rudiments of NELFUND application portal and disbursement processes, allaying their fear of sustainability, death of a beneficiary, period and mode of reaping the loan after employment among others.
The Permanent Secretary of the Humanitarian ministry, Olubumi Olusanya represented by the Assistant Director Training/Staff Welfare, Eweje Ololade Modukpe sad the ministry appreciated the Sensitization as the purpose was to give the staff awareness and understanding of what is going on about NELFund, stressing that the presentations were an eye-opener for all.
”Some say it is real, some say it is political propaganda, but here they are today. That is to tell us that it is real, and that the office is existing, and the programme is real,” she said
According to her, said initially there was skepticism about granting the request, since the staff are not students
”I remember, when the letter came, I was thinking within myself, we are not students. How does this affect us? So when I put a call through, it was explained, they are aware that we are not students, but we have children. We are all mothers, we are all fathers, and we are parents.
”Even if we don’t have one, we have people under us that we are training in school. So with that, we can even know how we can key in, and even if our children are already enjoying it, how do we even know? So these are some of the issues that were unraveled here today,” she said
She urged all staff of the ministry to become advocates of NELFUND going forward
