Students’ loan: UNIBEN receives N24.4m from NELFUND

The management of the University of Benin (UNIBEN) has acknowledged the receipt of N24.4 million for the first batch of institutional fee payments from the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), for 332 students of the institution.

Lilian Salami, the vice-chancellor of UNIBEN in a letter addressed to NELFUND acknowledged the receipt of the fund and assured the agency of the commitment of the university management to the academic success of the students.

“I write to acknowledge with thanks the receipt of the sum of N24.4 million being the payment of school charges and upkeep for 332 students of the University of Benin, who applied for loans under the NELFUND

“The university management of the University of Benin appreciates the NELFUND’s consideration of our students’ application and assures you of our commitment to the academic success of these students,” she said.

Salami on behalf of the university commends the laudable effort of the federal government to raise the standard of the students and tertiary education system.

Recall earlier in the week, the University of Ibadan acknowledged the receipt of the sum of N201 million from NELFUND for the 2023/2024 academic session.

According to Ganiyu Saliu, the registrar of the University of Ibadan, “The amount covers the fees of 1,370 students of the university who applied for the student loan.”

BusinessDay also earlier reported that Akintunde Sawyer, the managing director of the NELFUND had assured Nigerians in June during an NTA Weekend File live programme where he spoke on ‘Monitoring First Phase of Students Loan Scheme’ that the disbursement of the first phase of the student loan would commence in 20 days.

According to Sawyerr, Nigerian students can access loans to pursue their academic aspirations without financial constraints through the scheme as it is going to be rolled out in phases.

“The first thing I can tell you is that we’re going to roll this out in phases, the first phase is going to be with federal institutions and then we’re going to move to the other tertiary institutions.

“It’s going to be the public sector mainly at the beginning because that’s where we find the bulk of students who perhaps need the financing cover,” Sawyerr said.

President Bola Tinubu signed the Access to Higher Education Act into law barely a month after he was sworn in to make available loans to indigent students for the payment of their fees in tertiary institutions across the country.