Fostering And Protecting NELFUND -By Ike Willie-Nwobu

The Independent Corrupt Practices Commission, one of Nigeria’s key financial-and economic crimes fighting agency recently went for the jugular of the Nigeria Education Loan Fund(NELFUND) which manages the Nigerian students loan ecosystem established by the Student’s Loan Act of 2024.

According to the ICPC, it had uncovered acts of corrupt diversion running into billions of Naira meant for the fund.

However, in a robust statement surely after the ICPC’s revelation generated the kind of furore allegations of mismanagement of public funds do in Nigeria, NELFUND was quick to clarify that no amount of money under its custody had been misappropriated in any way. The ICPC backtracked a bit to say that it would look at other players in the NELFUND ecosystem.
But at that point, it appeared the damage was done.

To improve access to education, the Tinubu administration established the Education loan fund to provide interest free loans to students to support school fees and upkeep in public tertiary institutions. The beneficiaries are expected to commence repayment of the loan two years after NYSC.
Such a crucial intervention in such a critical area was long overdue as indigence and infrastructure gaps had contributed to stunt tertiary education in Nigeria with devastating consequences for the country’s economy eventually.

In the short period it has been in existence, the fund has been a lifeline for many students. It has improved access to tertiary education, preserving the dreams of countless students. With its understated purpose of making education financing accessible to Nigerian students, the fund is a poised to prove one of the most important achievements of the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration.

NELFUND has been just the shot in the arm education in Nigeria needed. It is a nascent program but its trajectory, and experience with similar student loan programs around the world, show that it is scalable. With time, its socio-economic benefits to Nigerians and the Nigerian economy and national development will be properly visible.

In a country awash with inflation and corruption, one where students are struggling with education financing as well as adequate purchasing power to take care of their basic needs, shouldn’t a lifeline such as NELFUND be shielded from every and all acts of corruption? Shouldn’t the student loan scheme be administered with utmost transparency to build the trust of Nigerians in the program and other similar programs already rolled out and in the works?

It Is in the interest of every Nigerian that the student loan scheme succeeds. Thus, while Nigeria’s economic and financial crime fighting agencies must not shy away from their robust oversight roles, they must refrain from comments or actions that have the tendency to smear NELFUND in corruption allegations in the absence of credible evidence.

But beyond yet-to-be established allegations of corruption, it is in the interest of every Nigerian that NELFUND be shielded from the cankerworm of corruption and all its destructive tendencies. It is critical that such a scheme tailored to give the hope of tertiary education to the most vulnerable Nigerians and Nigerian students be kept free of the inefficiency that has rocked previous such schemes to death.

Nigerians should not see NELFUND as a government program. Rather, they should take ownership of it and embrace it as their own. This mindset will give them the resources needed to root out the developing threats to a program that is about human capital development and enhancing national development.

Ike Willie-Nwobu,
Ikewilly9@gmail.com