The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has launched a nationwide sensitisation campaign targeting 34 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), as well as military, police and immigration barracks, to expand awareness and uptake of its student loan scheme.
The campaign, tagged “Roadshow”, is designed to take information about the government backed education financing scheme directly to civil servants, security personnel, parents and guardians to enable more Nigerian students to access financial support for higher education.
The Director of SERVICOM at NELFUND, Olusola Fowobaje, disclosed this during a sensitisation engagement with staff of the Ministry of Regional Development in Abuja.
Fowobaje explained that the initiative was part of the management’s efforts to ensure that civil servants understand the benefits and objectives of the scheme and, in turn, inform their children and dependants who may need financial assistance to pursue tertiary education.
He said the exercise would cover 34 ministries before extending to military formations, police and immigration barracks across the country.
“We are covering 34 ministries, and he said further that we should cover all the barracks, military barracks, police barracks, immigration, and what have you. And we are doing that. We are much more than capable of handling that,” he said.
According to him, the NELFUND student loan scheme has two major components: institutional fees and upkeep allowances. While the institutional loan covers approved school fees, eligible beneficiaries also receive a monthly upkeep allowance of N20,000.
Fowobaje said the campaign would not be limited to Abuja, noting that NELFUND’s management and staff were already engaging stakeholders across different parts of the country to improve public understanding of the scheme.
He said the direct engagement was necessary to address misconceptions surrounding the loan facility and encourage more eligible Nigerians to take advantage of the opportunity.
The SERVICOM director specifically dismissed fears that beneficiaries could be prevented from travelling or arrested simply for accessing the government backed loan.
He also assured prospective applicants that the application process was technology driven, transparent and accessible, stressing that applicants did not need personal connections or special intervention to secure the facility.
Fowobaje said the initiative was aimed at addressing financial difficulties that force some students to abandon their education, while promoting equitable access to higher education and reducing the number of Nigerians denied educational opportunities because of financial constraints.
He added that expanding access to education financing would strengthen human capital development, improve productivity and contribute to tackling broader national challenges, including illiteracy and insecurity.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Regional Development, Mary Ada Ogbe, represented by the Acting Director of Community Development and Education, said the engagement was organised to provide ministry officials with comprehensive information about the loan scheme and its benefits.
She explained that the meeting, organised in collaboration with NELFUND, was the first phase of a wider sensitisation exercise that would subsequently be extended to other employees of the ministry.
Ogbe urged participants to seek clarification on issues relating to the scheme and ensure that the information received was disseminated to other staff members.
She also expressed the ministry’s readiness to collaborate with NELFUND to promote wider awareness and participation in the student loan programme.
