NELFUND: Stakeholders appeal to FG on speedy release of funds

…commend removal of subsidy

Stakeholders in the Niger Delta region have appealed to the Federal Government to expedite action on the disbursement of funds to students through the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).

One of the stakeholders, the Bayelsa State Chairman of the National Association of Nigerian Students, Joint Campus Council (NANS-JCC), Comrade Lucky Michael, stated that the managers of the fund should address delays in disbursing funds to eligible applicants.

According to him, students are bearing the brunt of the delay, as some were prevented from sitting their examinations because the funds had not been released.

Michael, who spoke in Yenagoa during a stakeholders’ meeting while commending the Federal Government for introducing the loan scheme, noted that it had enabled students who previously struggled to pay school fees to continue their education.

“We are grateful to the Federal Government for this initiative to empower Nigerian students and appeal that it should continue and be sustained,” he said.

“And for those who have applied, the delay should be sorted out because some schools don’t allow them to write exams. So, we are pleading with the Federal Government and the bodies in charge to look into it and ensure those issues are taken care of.”

Also speaking, Jator Abido, National Coordinator of the Niger Delta Youth Council Worldwide, described the Tinubu administration’s removal of fuel subsidy and unification of the foreign exchange market as difficult but necessary structural reforms.

He admitted that the Tinubu economic reforms had increased inflation and worsened living costs in Port Harcourt, Warri and Yenagoa, noting, however, that the reforms, he argued, had helped restore investor confidence, stem economic losses and increase federal allocations to states, including those in the Niger Delta, by more than 60 per cent.

Abido said Nigeria’s crude oil production rose from about 1.4 million barrels per day to about 1.8 million barrels per day through collaboration between security agencies and private security firms.

He also welcomed the establishment of the Presidential Committee on Ogoni Consultations and the reconstitution of the relevant board to accelerate the Ogoni clean-up.

Earlier, the convener of the Niger Delta Progressives Alliance (NDPA), Victor Udoh, said the group had endorsed President Bola Tinubu for a second term and demanded an increase in the oil derivation fund from 13 per cent to 25 per cent.

Udoh said the Tinubu administration had delivered more tangible benefits to the Niger Delta than to any other region in its first three years.