Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA), Ondo State, has disclosed that over 1,100 of its students have benefited from the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).
While confirming the development, the Vice-Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Olugbenga Ige, revealed that the university has received a total of N144,530,000 from NELFUND.
According to Prof. Ige, who made the disclosure while speaking with newsmen, the funds would cover tuition and statutory charges for eligible undergraduates within the university.
While emphasising that the federal government initiative designed to provide interest-free loans to Nigerian students in higher institutions, the Vice-Chancellor maintained that the move had been able to ease financial pressure on students.
“We are enjoying NELFUND in the university. It started last year, and currently, over 1,116 students have benefited and have been given NELFUND loans totalling N144,530,000. That is the amount that has been released to AAUA to date for NELFUND,” Prof. Ige stated.
Meanwhile, the Vice-Chancellor revealed that the university has intensified efforts to ensure that undergraduates reside on campus rather than off campus to protect them from attacks.
Some students of the institution were faced with violent attacks a few months ago, with some of the incidents resulting in fatalities.
Prof. Ige, who stated that construction of halls of residence has begun in the university, said that “the NDDC hall of residence that has been abandoned for several years – we have gone to discuss with NDDC, and they are back on campus; the work is ongoing and at the final stage of completion. It will take a minimum of 500 students.
“Then we have the abandoned OSOPADEC hostel, and we have been discussing with the new leadership of OSOPADEC. The chairman and members of his team were here immediately after he was inaugurated. We have it on good authority that work will start immediately.
“Due to the challenges, the state government has allocated about N500 million to build a hall of residence as of next year. It is already in the 2026 budget. There are advanced reasons why there should be a deliberate effort to bring our students in from the violent attacks that they normally face on a daily basis within the Akungba community.
“We are also going into private partnership with some individuals and corporations who are interested in erecting halls of residence for us. The physical planning division of the university is already working on it, and by the time that is consummated, it will also assist us in bringing as many students as possible to the campus. With this, we hope we will accommodate more students in the university.
“When I assumed office, my first target was to build as many halls of residence as possible using the TETFund template, but unfortunately, when I came in, TETFund had stopped intervention in our university. So since 2020, we’ve been trying to partner with private initiatives to build hostels for us.”
