NELFUND Appeals To Female Tertiary Students To Apply For Loan

The Nigerian Education Loan Fund, NELFUND, has challenged female university students to take advantage of the initiative like their make counterparts.

The Fund said the attitude of female students in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions towards the loan has not been very encouraging like their male counterparts.

Akintunde Sawyer, the managing director of NELFUND made this known in Abuja, the nation’s capital, where he was represented by Oluwatosin Sanusi, NELFUND’s Head of Investments and Funds Management.

According to him, NELLFUND was established by the Tinubu administration to provide interest free loans to students of Nigeria’s ivory towers such as Federal and state universities and government owned polytechnics, which the students are expected to pay back after graduation and the gaining employment,

The magazine reports that President Tinubu signed the enabling NELFUND law last year to help Nigerians who want to pursue higher education in public owned institutions but lack the fund to do so.

Checks indicate that many students in these institutions have taken advantage of the initiative with over N110 billion disbursed already, according to Sawyer.

Unfortunately, female students have so far denied themselves the opportunity, the Fund said on Monday during an event to celebrate the International Women’s Day.

Sawyer said the agency is already working with women organizations in the country to change the tide, by encouraging university girls to apply like their male counterparts.  

Sawyer: “The NELFUND initiative is all about providing loans for students in tertiary institutions to pay for their fees and to take care of their welfare.

“There is also another part of the initiative which is the skill acquisition.

“It is underway, and it would also cover educational fees and fund purchases of equipment for entrepreneurship training.

“The skills acquisition programme places students on a monthly stipend, which is laudable; however, we have fewer women who are taking advantage of this initiative.

“Currently, we have a ratio of 4 to 1, which means for every four male applicants, we have just one female, which isn’t impressive.”

On April 19, 2024 President Bola Tinubu signed the amended version of NELFUND bill into law, promising that the students loan scheme will thrive on fairness and equity and promote inclusiveness among tertiary institution students.