President Bola Tinubu has directed immediate expansion of the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) to include students interested in skill-development programmes.
President Tinubu gave the directive to the management team after receiving briefing on the build-up to the launch of the programme later in the month from the Executive Secretary of NELFUND, Dr Akintunde Sawyerr, at the State House, Abuja.
In a statement issued by the presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, said it was important for the scheme to accommodate those who may not want to pursue university education.
The statement stresed that skill acquisition is as important as obtaining undergraduate and graduate academic qualifications.
In the statement:“This is not an exclusive programme. It is catering to all of our young people. Young Nigerians are gifted in different areas. This is not only for those who want to be doctors, lawyers, and accountants. It is also for those who aspire to use their skilled and trained hands to build our nation.
“In accordance with this, I have instructed NELFUND to explore all opportunities to inculcate skill-development programmes because not everybody wants to go through a full university education,” he said.
Speaking to the President, Sawyerr said the loan application process will be technology-driven, limiting human interface and “eliminating any possibility of maladministration in the programme.”
“By design, this is a perpetual programme and will not terminate. The funds, earmarked for bona-fide Nigerian students, will be disbursed directly to the institutions in the initial phase through electronic transfer. Our students will be catered to in a way that bypasses human interference through the full utilization of available technological platforms, in adherence to Your Excellency’s stated objectives,” he said.
