Don canvases targeted approach in disbursing students’ loan

• Lawmaker Tasks NELFUND On Transparency

The Rector, Delta State Polytechnic, Otefe-Oghara, Prof. Emmanuel Ufuophu-Biri, has emphasised the need for the Federal Government’s students’ loan programme to prioritise financially disadvantaged and vulnerable populations.

He said the loan should be restricted to those who genuinely need financial assistance such as the poor and downtrodden. Ufuophu-Biri advised that the scheme should be restricted to students from low-income backgrounds rather than being universally available to maximise its impact on those who are most economically disadvantaged.

In an interview with The Guardian, the Professor of Mass Communication and Journalism applauded the Federal Government’s efforts to support students in furthering their education with ease.

He, however, harped on the need for sensitisation on the programme at the grassroots, using the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) and Students Union Governments of individual tertiary institutions as points of contact.

He said: “I had a sideline discussion with the Managing Director of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) and President of National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS). I saw in them the genuine pursuit and intention for Nigerian students to gain from this loan. In the first place, this is what we read of in other climes.

“However, from what I have come to see and know of loans outside this country, students’ loan is not general. You can’t have somebody whose father is a billionaire applying for such a loan.” It should be limited, to some extent, to people who are relatively disadvantaged to be able to pay.

“It should actually be for students who are less able than others to pay their fees. As it is right now, it is general. The heads of institutions, NANS and SUGs in different institutions should encourage students to subscribe to it.”

Meanwhile, a member of the House of Representatives, Terseer Ugbor, has called on NELFUND to be open and transparent in the disbursement of loans to students of tertiary institutions in the country.

Ugbor, who chairs the House Ad hoc Committee on Students’ Loans, explained that up till now, he could not tell how many students from Benue had received the loans due to the alleged absence of openness and accountability in the disbursement process.

The lawmaker, who spoke while on a visit to his constituency office in Benue State, warned NELFUND to be wary of politicising the management of the fund, including the selection of vendors and recruitment of staff.

He queried how loans were disbursed without credit life insurance and health insurance for the students, wondering how the funds would be recovered in case of death, disability or default. He called for more transparency in the management of the students’ loans as one of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s legacy initiatives.