From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has given 48 hours ultimatum to institutions that are yet to upload or complete the process of uploading their students’ data on the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFund) portal known as Student Verification System (SVS) to quickly do so or risk unfriendly actions from the students.
Its President, Lucky Emonefe, in a statement, noted that NELFund had issued a deadline of July 12, 2024, for the submission of students’ data, noting that many students risk missing the opportunity because of inability of their various institutions to submit their data to NELFund for consideration of the loan.
He said: “NANS frowns at this development. This shows a lack of commitment, and urgency on the part of the affected institutions. It’s disheartening to see that some institutions are not taking advantage of this limited opportunity for their students.”
He called on the management of the institutions to prioritise the process of uploading their students’ data on NELFund portal before the deadline, stressing that education is a fundamental human right, and every student deserves access to financial support to further their studies.
He said NANS would continue to monitor the situation closely, calling on the remaining institutions to immediately ensure that all students have equal opportunity to benefit from the loan scheme. “We will not stand by and allow any student denied access to education due to administrative negligence.
“So, failure of the concerned institutions to make this provision available to the NELFund portal within the next 48 hours will leave us with the only option of rolling out our action plans against the errant institution,” he threatened.