NELFUND: Renewned Hope or Pitfall for Nigerian Students
Nigeria’s higher education system is a nationwide merger of over 600 public and private institutions, such as universities, polytechnics, monotechnics, and colleges of education. Amidst these, a question lingers on why only federal and state-owned universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education alone are the beneficiaries of NELFUND.
Brief History of NELFUND
The Student Loan Act (access to higher education) of 2023, which established the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), was enacted in April 4, 2024 under President Bola Tinubu’s administration, in a bid to forestall financial constraints for the Nigerian students, and foster a knowledge-driven economy in the higher learning institutions, through the provision of interest-free loan programme, whose portal surfaced online for applications in May 2024.
According to the reimbursement policy of the loan, beneficiaries are meant to begin the repayment two years after the completion of their mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), through the deductions of 10% of their salaries per month.
Students Loan is not a New Initiative
Historically, the Nigerian Students Loan Board (NSLB), established in 1972 by Decree No. 25, under Major Gen. Yakubu Gowon, was the nation’s first official attempt to secure access to higher education through loan.
Naturally, the scheme ought to have become a deterrent to the Nigerian government and the recipients of the then loan, due to its woeful and outright collapse because of epileptic repayment rates, inefficacious enforcement mechanisms, weak tracking systems, political intervention, lack of a fair, credible, and transparent biodata of the recipients and administrative inefficiencies. Research revealed that only 13% of the disbursed loans were recovered in 1991.
Relatively speaking, the Nigerian Students Loan Board (NSLB) was later substituted for National Education Bank (EDUBANK) in 1993 by Decree No. 50 under Major Gen. Ibrahim Badamosi Babangid(IBB), which also proved abortive as a result of the very same structural matters.
Nevertheless, the fiasco of these past failed attempts has raised worries among concerned Nigerians as regards the new 2023 Student Loans Act. Similarly, many Nigerian economists have commended and admonished the government that without proper reforms in governance, openness and sympathetic ear to the public information, the burning loan scheme may likely make similar historical mistakes.
In other words, unless the lessons derived from the 1972 student loan facility are solemnly contemplated and avoided, there may be a pitfall waiting in ambush for the NELFUND palliative. The reason for these incessant failures is the bare fact that Nigeria continues to do the same thing the same way and expect different results, which is unattainable.
NELFUND is a Janus Sword
However, considering the possible aftermath of the NELFUND provided by the Federal government under the aegis of the current administration, to mitigate the albatross of upkeep costs across the Federal and state-owned varsities, polytechnics, and colleges of education, appears to be a misplacement of priorities and procurement of debt.
If the government were responsible, responsive, and representative, they must sympathize and empathize the plight the average Nigerian students encountered in this pool of economic quagmire. With this long-term debt sustainability, there is seemingly no promising prognostications for the country, if it is mandatory that the Nigerian youths should refund the loan amidst this unemployment rates, economic hurly-burlies, political hysteria, to mention but a few.
The present government needs to get their priorities right. What should be the utmost priorities in accordance with the constitution of Nigeria, are the security of lives and welfare of the citizens.
Moreso, providing the NELFUND palliatives to students across the higher institutions is also diametrically tantamount to another dimension of creating debt for the government itself and students, by putting their lives in jeopardy as a result of debt trappings set for both parties.
What if the NELFUND beneficiaries refuse to repay the loan? Or must it be a refundable relief? This is unequivocally so, owing totally to the fact that life after higher education is no longer the tip of the ice berg, but the starting point. Hence, the body language of the government should not be degrading and puerile, but rather lenient to the people.
All these hues and cries since the inception of civilian government have its root from the economic crises. Emotionalism aside, the atmospheric status quo of the country’s economy has to be restored to normalcy to avoid Nigerians’ stoicism. Equally, the government’s attitude shouldn't be equal to an adage—“the thing that kills the vegetable, that is insect in the vegetable.” It is an elementary logic that “you can (only) fool some of the people all of the time but, you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.”
Recommendations; what the Government/Nigerians Should Do
If the current government wants Nigerian students to blow their own trumpet for them, all this rough and tumble of politicking should be set aside on matters of education as it is “the biggest weapon the Nigerian youths can use to change the world.” Just like Bacon, an empiricist philosopher who affirmed that “knowledge is power (scientists potentia est)."
In actual fact, people, specifically, Nigerian students (as it were pledged by the present administration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu(BAT) hopefully romanticize and anticipate, a bit of grace; jene sais quoi; a bit of generosity of mind; a bit of liberality of spirit, among others from the government as the demanding dividends of democracy.
The Renewed Hope mandate ought not to be idealistic (hopeless) but realistic(optimistic). If the opposite is the order of the day, the Renewed Hope agenda are stillbirths. The bottom line is that, if possible that BAT’s administration can write off NELFUND as student bursaries and grants, Nigerian students will remember this as the first of its kind in the history of Nigerian education.
In sum, this student loan initiative truly aims at eliminating financial stumbling blocks, opening doors to academic pursuits for the underprivileged students and enabling students to shape their future uncompromisingly. Its purpose facilitates financial access to higher education, enables equal opportunities for all Nigerian students, promotes quality education for National Development, and so forth.
The Nigerian students, meanwhile, believe in the Nigerian government and they shouldn’t rough-handle the citizens, particularly Nigerian students. Again, the government should recollect past mistakes of previous leadership and allow not the history to repeat itself.
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