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From Adesuwa Tsan, Abuja
The sustainability of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) may be threatened beyond the life of the current administration unless state governments and corporate organisations are compelled to contribute to its funding, Chairman of Senate Committee on Capital Market, Osita Izunaso, has warned.
A statement issued by his media office on Thursday said Izunaso, who represents Imo West Senatorial District, raised the alarm at a stakeholders’ forum on NELFUND in Abuja, where he called for far-reaching reforms to strengthen the student loan scheme and ensure its long-term survival.
The lawmaker also advocated extending the loan repayment period from the current two years after graduation to five years, arguing that Nigeria’s unemployment realities make the existing arrangement impracticable.
Izunaso expressed concern that state governments, whose tertiary institutions benefit significantly from the programme, are not contributing financially to its operation.
“It is also sad that state governments are not contributing to NELFUND. But they are benefiting from it because it is taking care of all public institutions, both federally and state-owned,” he said.
He therefore urged the National Assembly and relevant stakeholders to evolve a funding model that would make contributions from state governments and private sector organisations mandatory.
“The sub-nationals must be compelled to contribute to NELFUND. Corporate companies in Nigeria should also contribute. That is one way of assuring its sustainability,” he added.
The lawmaker called for sustained engagement with governors and other stakeholders to develop a collective ownership structure for the fund.
“We must engage them. We must invite them to the roundtable to discuss the sustainability of NELFUND. It is not enough to play the ostrich,” he said.
“There should be an inter-agency collaboration between NELFUND and other agencies of government to ensure that these students are given priority in terms of employment,” he said, while suggesting that the Ministries of Labour and Employment, alongside relevant Senate committees, should work with NELFUND to monitor and facilitate job placements for graduates who benefited from the scheme.
“You cannot tell me that agencies are employing people without a specific percentage for those that the Federal Government has supported through education financing,” he said.
The senator disclosed that about 1.6 million students are currently benefiting from the programme and stressed the need to create pathways linking them to employment opportunities after graduation.
He warned that failure to incorporate employment planning into the scheme could undermine its objectives and widen inequality among graduates seeking jobs.
“NELFUND has come to stay, but its future depends on deliberate efforts to make it financially sustainable and responsive to the realities facing Nigerian students,” he said.
According to him, while NELFUND remains one of the most impactful programmes introduced by the administration of President Bola Tinubu, urgent steps must be taken to prevent it from becoming another government initiative that fades away with a change in leadership.
“Everything that has to be done for its sustainability has to be done, so that it will not die whenever this government leaves office. NELFUND must be sustainable,” he said.
Izunaso commended the management of the fund for maintaining transparency and accountability in the handling of resources.
“I must commend the management of NELFUND. They have been transparent. They have been accountable. It is easy to Google how much money NELFUND has received and how much money they have disbursed. That is not the case with most government establishments,” he said.
Despite the commendation, the senator argued that critical aspects of the enabling law require amendment, particularly the repayment framework.
“The issue of repayment after two years is not practical. We have to increase it to five years. Two years is not practical,” he stated.
He explained that many beneficiaries would find it difficult to begin repayment shortly after completing the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), especially in an economy where employment opportunities remain limited.
“In situations where jobs are not available, they just come out of NYSC, and after two years you are expected to start repaying. How are you going to do that when the jobs are not there?” he asked.
The senator further described the N20,000 monthly upkeep allowance paid to beneficiaries as grossly inadequate in the current economic climate, adding, “that amount must be increased.”
He also identified accommodation as a major gap in the scheme, noting that NELFUND currently caters for tuition and monthly upkeep but does not address housing needs. He queried, “what happens to their accommodation? Where will they stay to learn? Are the schools giving them accommodation free? The answer is no.”
According to him, since the scheme is targeted at students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, broader welfare concerns should form part of its design.
