Students loan scheme not suspended ‘indefinitely’-TETFund 

From Fred Ezeh, Abuja

Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, Akintunde Sawyer, on Tuesday, during an interview with Arise News, said the launch of the Nigerian Students Loan Scheme has been postponed indefinitely.

Sawyer said: “Unfortunately, I won’t be able to commit to a specific date. We are sort of waiting to ensure that all the stakeholders are aligned to ensure that nobody is blindsided, then we can actually roll out in a meaningful, comprehensive, wholesome, and sustainable way.”

Echono, however, told journalists at a meeting with the Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, in Abuja, on Wednesday, that the students loan scheme was being re-engineered to accommodate new items that would be useful to the implementation of the scheme and general well-being of the students.

Echono said: “The truth is that the launch was suspended but not indefinitely as being reported in the media. The decision was based on wide consultation with various stakeholders on the source of funding and logistics that would enhance the successful implementation of the scheme.

“We didn’t want to start the scheme and people would be raising objections. As a result, we need some level of amendment to the scheme to fast-track the implementation and achieve the desired result.

“Let me assure you that legislative work is being done on the scheme by members of the National Assembly. This might take days or weeks, and not forever as being reported in the media. So, the report that the launch and implementation of the scheme has been suspended indefinitely is not correct. The President is very much committed to this project, and I have been involved in the steps to ensure that we actualize the project as quickly as possible.”

The TETFund boss further disclosed that over 140,000 students are going to benefit from the scheme when fully operational in few weeks time. “This is far from what we used to have as scholarship in the Federal Ministry of Education.”

He further disclosed that the digital platform for the application of the loan is live and running, ready to accept applications, but for some modifications and little corrections that are needed. “We have synchronized the system with JAMB because they are very critical in the project. The bulk of the application is expected from students who newly secured admissions.

“So, we have not lost so much time because JAMB will soon conduct 2024 UTME for new intakes who might want to apply for the loan. Unarguably, most students might have paid their school fees except for few cases where there are challenges. But the window will soon be opened to them to benefit.”

He stated that beyond the students in the schools, there are plans to move into the skills sector for the benefit of few game changers, thus opening new value chains for wealth creation in the skills sector.

“We also intend to expand the scheme to cover our Social Investment Programmes. But this will be after we have solved the immediate challenges. We want to empower people so they can be independent, financially and otherwise. These are the long term plans of this project. These have stressed the need to expand the capacity of the digital platform to accommodate these changes, and that’s the reason for the little delay in the launch and implementation of the scheme.