Southern students skeptical of loan scheme – Sawyerr
By Kunle Sanni
The Managing Director of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), Akintunde Sawyerr, has stated that students from higher institutions in Nigeria’s southern region are not applying for student loans due to concerns about the program’s legitimacy.
Sawyerr made this remark while briefing State House correspondents after President Bola Tinubu launched the loan disbursement at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Wednesday.
He noted that students from the North have shown more interest in the loans, attributing this to better coordination by tertiary institutions in that region.
“In the southern part of the country, there’s growing awareness and interest. There’s been a lot of skepticism, and I think the most skeptical parts of the country are in the South; they question everything: Is it true? Is it real? Is it a scam?”
“And I think what you witnessed today with us starting this disbursement program is to say that ‘this is not NO FUND. This is NELFUND.’”
“The zones with the highest interest are in the North. I can say that institutions in the North of the country have been very proactive in supporting and helping their students and providing their data to us,” Sawyerr said.
He assured Nigerians that the early skepticism would dissipate as more loans were disbursed.
“So, that’s where the interest is currently. But that (high adoption in the North) is to be expected because they seem very well-organized in terms of networking in the northern part of the country.”
“So, I think we’ll see the skepticism in the southern part begin to disappear when we start paying out,” he added.
Sawyerr mentioned that NELFUND is actively working to raise awareness in the South to encourage students in the region to embrace the scheme when disbursements begin.
Additionally, he disclosed that a greater number of university students had applied for loans compared to students from polytechnics and colleges of education.
He stated: “We’re trying to ensure that people know this is not a trick, it’s not a game. Mr. President has backed this with cash and we’re going to disburse that cash.”
