The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has confirmed that Nigerian students studying abroad are ineligible for the newly introduced student loan scheme. Akintunde Sawyerr, NELFUND’s Managing Director, disclosed this information on Friday.
The Access to Higher Education Act, 2023, signed into law by President Bola Tinubu on June 12, aims to provide interest-free loans to indigent students attending Nigerian tertiary institutions. This initiative aligns with Tinubu’s campaign promise to enhance education funding. Dele Alake, a member of the former Presidential Strategy Team, highlighted the significance of this legislation in making education more accessible.
Following a briefing from NELFUND, led by Minister of State for Education Dr. Yusuf Sununu on January 22, the President instructed the Fund to extend interest-free loans to students pursuing skill-development programmes. Despite initial delays, the scheme has garnered significant interest, with 30,000 students successfully registering and over 60,000 individuals signing up on the NELFUND website.
However, on May 22, 2024, a group of Nigerian students at Teesside University were expelled from their courses and ordered to leave the United Kingdom due to difficulties in paying their tuition fees on time, according to a BBC report. The students cited the devaluation of the naira as a significant barrier to meeting their financial obligations, leading to a breach of their visa sponsorship requirements.
Sawyerr clarified that the loan scheme was exclusively for students studying within Nigeria. “Nigerians in Diaspora cannot benefit from the student loan. Nigerians schooling in the country are those we want to help. The law does not allow the FG to give loans to Nigerians studying abroad,” he stated.
Criticism of the exclusion of Nigerian students in foreign institutions has emerged. Adaramoye Lenin, National Mobilisation Officer of the Education Rights Campaign, argued that this exclusion highlights the inadequacy of the scheme in addressing the educational needs of Nigerian students. He contended that the government was using the loan scheme to avoid properly funding public education, shifting the financial burden onto students instead.
