•All impediments must be removed through credible probe of allegations in the public space
The launch of the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) in July, last year, was seen as a life saver for indigent students thirsty for tertiary education. The details, as released by the fund’s first chief executive, Mr. Akintunde Sawyerr, excited those whose appetite had been tickled during the political campaign season the previous year when the promise was first made by the man who was later to be elected President.
However, given the persistent huge mistrust of government by the people, a number of Nigerians thought it would end up like any other previous promises by successive governments. But, when Mr. Sawyerr said the process would be largely automated with minimal human interaction, some elected to give it a benefit of the doubt. Just about one year into the scheme, about 500,000 students are believed to have benefitted.
It is, however, befuddling that rumours are now rife that some students listed as having benefitted from the loan are still being harassed by some institutions for their tuition fees said to have been paid by NELFUND. So, what happened? Could it be that the money had ended up in the banks and loaned out to their customers for profit? Could it be that the institutions into whose accounts the money was released sat on it? Or, did NELFUND bureaucrats keep the fund aside for personal gain while giving the impression that it had been released? What happened? The Nigerian public deserves full explanation on this.
It is not a scheme to be killed by what has become derisively known as “the Nigerian factor”.
Although, the decision by the leadership to step up awareness campaign on the processes of administering the fund helped clear the fog a little, the rumour had been allowed to persist a little too long, such that many thought all the defence was an afterthought. Quite a number of applicants and their parents had come on the social media with their own narrative. Some said they applied and heard no word from the fund. Others said while they were notified of their successful application, they have not been paid and had to raise money from other sources to pay the institutions. Most damaging was the allegation that some institutions were making illegal deductions from money deposited for the beneficiaries. This calls for thorough investigation by the Independent Corrupt Practices (and other related offences) Commission (ICPC) that has already stepped in.
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And, given the importance that the Tinubu administration appears to attach to the scheme, it must be speedily done and the findings made public. We cannot afford to have a repeat of the investigation into activities of ministers and officials of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs that has become endless. The longer it takes, the more doubtful the public would become and it will rub off negatively on confidence in the government.
This is a time that the Federal Government should woo the youth and give them a sense of belonging. It is good that Mr. Sawyerr has pointed out that the figures being bandied around are all false. He disclosed that N203 billion, not N100 billion has been released to the fund, while about N53 billion has been disbursed to the institutions. He explained that beneficiaries are paid through the institutions, while their upkeep allowance of N20,000 each monthly is paid directly into their accounts. Any student whose monthly stipend has been paid into the account, but is being hounded for tuition knows that something has gone wrong. We hope that the ICPC would involve seasoned accounting and auditing firms in the probe.
President Bola Tinubu and his Minister of Education should take keen interest in the probe and keep the agitated public informed at every stage. One lesson that the fund and the government should learn from this is that the age of keeping things under wrap is gone. This is the age of democratised media space. The social and new media is agog 24 hours of the day, and where the correct information is not made available, the mischievous would take over and manufacture something for those thirsty for information. By the time information managers are playing catch-up, it might have become too late.
Another leg of the unfortunate incident is the statistics that beneficiaries are drawn more from preferred sections of the country. The narrative is that applicants from the South South and South East regions were ignored. This concern should not be dismissed but thoroughly probed to discover the reason. Were the regions truly ignored? Did students just refuse to participate because of their parents’ reservation? Whatever be the reason, it is obvious that there are many indigent students in all parts of the country, with many crying that poverty is eating deep into family income.
It is a call for an intensive awareness campaign to make parents accept that it is in their interest to embrace the scheme. It is true that many Nigerians loath loans, given the predilection of commercial banks to compound interests and thereafter take over property used as collateral. The difference in this should be explained to all by the National Orientation Agency (NOA) and other information dissemination bodies in the country. The money being disbursed belongs to all Nigerians, and it is not enough to make it available, but to ensure that all deserving students are carried along.
Statistics from NELFUND indicates that while the highest number of applicants, 157,831 came from the North West, the least, 27,098 are from the South East, followed by 37,180 from the South South. Before the next round of consideration of applicants, deliberate action should be taken to bridge the gap and assure all that there is no discrimination against any part of the country.
All efforts should be made, also, to give speed to consideration of applications, and students tutored on how to successfully apply through the portal. This is the digital age and students should be carried along on how to handle simple applications. Where some have made mistakes, they should be informed and given a second chance. The loan scheme must work in the interest of all deserving Nigerian students of our public tertiary institutions.
