The management of Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka has disclosed that its students were yet to receive disbursement from the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) because of the ongoing verification check on its students.
It stated that 556 of its undergraduate students submitted application to NELFUND as of August 16, 2024
In a statement sent to EdubaseNG on Thursday, Dr. Emmanuel C. Ojukwu, Special Adviser to the Acting Vice-Chancellor Prof Joseph Ifeanyichukwu Ikechebelu says “Nnamdi Azikiwe University is not left out of the NELFUND as it is speculated in the media,”
The clarification came at a time some lawmakers from the South East geopolitical zone at the National Assembly led by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe alleged that the ruling All Progressive Congress-led government was deliberately marginalising students based in the zone from benefiting from the funds.
Popularly known as UNIZIK, the institution stated that five hundred and fifty-six (556) students applied for the loan, “while three hundred and four (304) students were approved by NELFUND as of August 16, 2024.”
Clarifying why none of its student had yet to receive disbursement as their counterparts in various institutions across Nigeria, the management of UNIZIK said the “The Student Affairs Unit of the University is currently going through the list to confirm the applicants as bona-fide students before disbursement by NELFUND.”
The education loan is open to every Nigerian student in government-owned institutions, including universities, polytechnics, college of education, and technical schools, whose admission can be verified by the statutory bodies.
Unfortunately, no institutions in the SouthEast region made the first batch of list of disbursement available to the general public. The disbursement was dominated by institutions based in the North and South West zones.
While the allegation of the marginalisation was rife on social media, the Managing Director of NELFUND Mr Akintunde Sawyerr refuted it, saying the student loan is an opportunity designed for every Nigerian undergraduate students regardless of their state of origin and geopolitical zone, saying it is not ideal to force people to take a loan.
He stated that the loan application would be processed as quickly as possible when the institutions in the zone forwarded and confirmed the data of the students.
The allegation forced NELFUND to release a step-by-step procedure involved in the loan application and disbursement to beneficiaries.
What does this mean?
The alleged exclusion of institutions from the region was not NELFUND’s fault, rather the negligence of the management who paid little attention to the needs of their students.
The alarm raised by some people on social media is paying off as this would make institutions in the South East take the welfare of their students seriously and live up to their responsibility.
It is inexplicable for any institution to claim that it is still verifying identity of its student since NELFUND application opened for submission in more than three months even when students in other zones have received N2.9 Billion as institutional loan (paid directly into schools’ account) and upkeep allowance paid directly into students’ bank accounts.
The sensitization of the ongoing student loan should not be left in the hands of the NELFUND management, institutions, especially Student Affairs Unit of various institutions should swing into action and enlighten their students about funding opportunities.
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