The Nigerian Education Loan Fund confirmed that Nigerian students who study abroad are ineligible for the newly launched student loan scheme.
This information was announced on Friday by NELFUND’s Managing Director, Akintunde Sawyerr.
The Access to Higher Education Act of 2023, signed into law by President Bola Tinubu on June 12, promises to give interest-free loans to low-income students attending Nigerian higher institutions.
The action is consistent with Tinubu’s campaign vow to increase educational financing. Dele Alake, a former member of the Presidential Strategy Team, emphasised the importance of this act in increasing educational accessibility.
Following a NELFUND briefing held by Minister of State for Education, Dr Yusuf Sununu, on January 22, the President directed the Fund to provide interest-free loans to students enrolled in skill-development courses.
Despite these delays, the project has generated tremendous interest, with 30,000 students successfully registering and over 60,000 people joining up on the NELFUND website.
However, on May 22, 2024, a group of Nigerian students at Teesside University were ejected from their degrees and told to leave the UK owing to difficulty in paying their tuition fees on time, according to a BBC story.
The students claimed the depreciation of the naira as a substantial hurdle to achieving their financial responsibilities, resulting in a violation of their visa sponsorship criteria.
Nonetheless, Sawyerr stressed that the loan arrangement was exclusive for students studying in Nigeria.
He said:
“Nigerians in Diaspora cannot benefit from the student loan. Nigerians schooling in the country are those we want to help. The law does not allow the FG to give loans to Nigerians studying abroad.”
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cc: Punch Ng
