The Nigeria Education Loan Fund, or NELFund, portal will officially open for qualified students in March, according to a schedule set by the federal government.
In an interview with newsmen on Thursday in Abuja, Dr. Akintunde Sawyerr, the Executive Secretary of the NELFund, revealed this information and advised qualified students to register in order to receive funding.
On June 12, 2023, President Bola Tinubu signed the Access to Higher Education Bill into law, allowing impoverished students to apply for interest-free loans to attend any postsecondary school in Nigeria.
The program was originally scheduled to start in September or October of 2023, but owing to unanticipated events, the start date was moved to January.
Sawyerr provided an explanation for the plan’s delayed launch, stating that technological considerations and the implementation of appropriate safeguards were required.
“The take-off date is this month (March) and the reason for the delay is that we are trying to get it right.
“This is not a political programme where we say, oh! we are just going to do it, it doesn’t matter how it works.
“This is a programme that will, probably run beyond me as a human being, not even as a Secretary. This is something that we want to run adequately, so we have to get it right,’’ he said.
Sawyerr restated President Tinubu’s pledge to make sure that no Nigerian student should be forced to drop out of college due to a lack of funds.
He claimed that the program, for which applications will be submitted online, was intended for impoverished Nigerian students enrolled in postsecondary schools.
“We have decided that all applicants should be able to access this scheme regardless of where they are, who they are and who they know.
“We want this to be a process that is fair to all and we will advertise the portal widely so that applicants will be able to go to the website to fill series of forms and answer certain questions.
“Base on the data they input and their answers to the questions, the system will be able to determine appropriately, whether they are eligible to apply or not,’’ Sawyerr added.