The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has disclosed that no fewer than 1.2 million students are to benefit in the first phase of its disbursements. The Explainer gathered that Nigerian students will need to present their National Identification Number (NIN) and Bank Verification Number (BVN) to access the loans.
The Managing Director of NELFUND, Mr Akintunde Sawyerr, made this known during an interactive session with members of the Education Writers Association of Nigeria (EWAN) in Lagos recently. At the session, Mr. Sawyerr also said that the students are also required to provide their Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination registration number.
According to him, “about 1.2 million Nigerian students in tertiary institutions and government-recognized skill acquisition centers will be among the first batch of beneficiaries.
“The money to fund the loan scheme is 1% of the revenue generated by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) annually.” This is just as the MD said that the management of the loan scheme would verify applications and attached requirements to ascertain eligibility. He said that disbursement would be in two segments.
“The school fee will be paid to the institution on behalf of the student and the stipend directly to the student’s account,” he said. Mr Sawyerr added that financially indigent undergraduates, who need the loan for their education, are free to apply on a designed website and must provide their matriculation details. He said that the beneficiaries would be expected to start servicing the loans when they would secure jobs or set up businesses.
