NELFUND breaks poverty barrier to higher education, says Shettima

The Federal Government has released funds to pay eight months’ accumulated Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance (CATA) to eligible academic staff in federal tertiary institutions nationwide.

This was as Vice President Kashim Shettima described the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND): a major social intervention of the President Bola Tinubu administration that is breaking the cycle of poverty by enabling children from less privileged backgrounds to access and remain in tertiary institutions.

Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, in an interview with journalists in Abuja yesterday, said the payment was part of the Federal Government’s commitment to fulfilling its obligations to academic staff and improving the welfare of workers in the tertiary education sector.

According to the minister, the release of the funds underscores the Federal Government’s commitment to implementing the provisions of the renegotiated agreement with academic staff of tertiary institutions.

“I am happy to announce that the CATA payment has now been settled by the Federal Government from January to August 2026 to all universities, polytechnics and colleges of education. All these institutions, as well as federal universities of agriculture, should have received. Every institution should have received its notification to start paying CATA to all academic staff,” he said.

CATA is a fixed allowance intended to equip lecturers with the resources they need to carry out their teaching, research and professional development responsibilities. It covers expenses such as journal publications, conference participation, Internet services, membership in professional and learned societies, as well as the purchase of academic books.

The allowance was reviewed as part of the Federal Government’s 2025 agreement with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), signed on January 14, 2026. It is a major component of the revised remuneration package for university lecturers and forms part of the 40 per cent increase in their overall emoluments.

At its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in June, ASUU had reviewed the implementation of its agreement with the Federal Government and raised concerns over outstanding aspects of the new remuneration package, including CATA.

Shettime said the education loan programme had emerged as a critical social equaliser by removing financial barriers that had historically prevented many young Nigerians from pursuing higher education.

The Vice President spoke yesterday in Abuja when he received the management team of the University of Abuja (UNIABUJA), led by its Vice Chancellor, Prof. Hakeem Fawehinmi, on a courtesy visit.

According to him, NELFUND, through the payment of tuition and provision of monthly upkeep allowances, has given students from poor and vulnerable families the opportunity to obtain university education without the burden of meeting the immediate financial demands of tertiary education.

He said the initiative was designed not merely as an education financing scheme but as a strategic instrument for poverty reduction and human-capital development.

Recalling his experience as a student at the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID), where rising food prices created difficulties for students, Shettima said that NELFUND was providing much-needed relief to young Nigerians facing similar economic pressures.

“NELFUND is a very beautiful initiative by the leadership of this country under President Bola Tinubu, created to give respite and breathing space to the children of the poor,” he said.