The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has announced that no fewer than 1.5 million students across 288 tertiary institutions in Nigeria have benefited from its student loan scheme, with more than ₦282 billion disbursed so far under the programme.
The disclosure was made by Mr. Awati Muhammed, Head of Loan Repayment and Reconciliation at NELFUND, during a Democracy Day engagement organised on Friday by student union leaders from Northern Nigeria in Yola, Adamawa State.
Themed “Thank You President Tinubu for Making Democracy Work for Students”, the event brought together students and stakeholders to discuss opportunities created by recent Federal Government education interventions targeted at expanding access to higher education.
Speaking at the event, Muhammed said the student loan initiative was designed to remove longstanding financial barriers that have prevented many young Nigerians from pursuing tertiary education, describing the programme as one of the flagship interventions under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
According to him, the Northern Project Coordination Office (NPCO), working in collaboration with NELFUND and the Presidential Initiative on Compressed Natural Gas (PI-CNG), has launched a large-scale sensitisation campaign across 25 universities in Northern Nigeria to deepen awareness about the interest-free education loan programme and other educational support initiatives introduced by the Federal Government.
He explained that the campaign was specifically aimed at educating students on eligibility requirements, application procedures, and the broader benefits of the scheme, while encouraging wider participation among qualified applicants.
“The outreach is designed to increase awareness and encourage wider participation among eligible students. The scheme is helping to eliminate financial barriers that have historically hindered many young Nigerians from accessing tertiary education,” Muhammed said.
He further noted that the programme aligns with the Tinubu administration’s commitment to improving access to quality education while empowering Nigerian youths through sustainable educational financing.
Muhammed also reiterated NELFUND’s commitment to transparency and accountability in implementing the scheme, assuring students that the agency would continue engaging institutions to ensure that no eligible beneficiary is left out.
He added that the ongoing sensitisation exercise would also provide opportunities for direct interaction between students, NELFUND officials, and other stakeholders involved in the implementation process.
Abdulwahab Shehu, NELFUND Desk Officer at Modibbo Adama University, described the initiative as a breakthrough in promoting equitable access to higher education across the country.
Urging students to seek proper clarification on the loan scheme’s eligibility conditions, repayment terms, and application processes to make informed decisions before applying, Shehu encouraged qualified students to take full advantage of what he described as a rare opportunity to pursue their academic ambitions without being burdened by immediate financial constraints.
One of the beneficiaries, Abbas Aminu, a student of Modibbo Adama University, praised the programme, describing it as a timely intervention that has significantly eased the burden of tuition fees and other academic-related expenses.
Aminu said the loan support had enabled him to focus more on his academic work, adding that the programme had substantially reduced the financial pressures commonly associated with tertiary education in Nigeria.
The NELFUND student loan scheme remains one of the Tinubu-led Federal Government’s major education financing reforms, aimed at expanding access to university education while reducing the number of students forced to abandon their studies because of economic hardship.
