Student loan repayment structure is interest-free, says NELFUND
The Nigerian Education Loan Fund has said the loan repayment structure is interest-free, even if repayments stretch over a decade.
He assured students that beneficiaries of the student loan scheme will not be restricted from travelling abroad after graduation.
Managing Director and Chief Executive of NELFUND, Akintunde Sawyerr, made this clarification during a sensitisation programme at Edo University, Iyamho, on Wednesday, while addressing students’ concerns about potential travel limitations.
“The law that sets up the Nigerian Education Loan Fund does not limit your ability to go and look for work wherever you want. You are not tied. It doesn’t say you cannot leave Nigeria because you have a loan with us. You can go wherever you want to go in the world. It is not possible for you to say that I can’t travel around the world.
“However, I think the right and proper thing to do, if you have a loan in Nigeria and you want to get a job somewhere else, is to pay the loan yourself back to your country,” Sawyerr said.
He encouraged students to take advantage of the loan scheme to ease the financial burden of education on their families, emphasising its unique benefits compared to other loan types.
The Director of Loan Allocation and Distribution, NELFUND, Lami Suwaid, urged the university to take advantage of the new registration cycle to boost participation.
The Acting Vice Chancellor of AAU, Professor Sunday Olowo Samuel, represented by the Director of Academic Planning, Prof. Eunice Omoregie, reiterated the university’s commitment to driving awareness and increasing student enrolment in the scheme.
