The National Assembly (NASS) and the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) have announced plans to expand Nigeria’s student loan scheme from 1.6 million beneficiaries to seven million students, in a move aimed at boosting access to higher education and driving national development.
The commitment was made on Monday during a one-day national sensitisation programme on student loans organised by the Senate Committee on Tertiary Education and TETFUND in collaboration with NELFUND.
Speaking at the event, NELFUND Managing Director, Akintunde Sawyerr, revealed that the Fund has so far disbursed N282 billion to support 1.6 million Nigerian students across the country.
Sawyerr said the scheme has already made a significant impact on millions of lives and stressed the need for broader stakeholder support to scale up its reach.
“Today, 1.6 million Nigerian students have directly benefited from the NELFUND scheme. If we consider that the average Nigerian family consists of about five people, it means we are directly and indirectly impacting nearly 10 million lives,” he said.
He added that the Fund is seeking to increase the number of direct beneficiaries to seven million students in tertiary institutions and vocational centres nationwide.
According to him, NELFUND’s long-term vision includes expanding its intervention beyond tertiary education to cover skills acquisition and technical and vocational training programmes, a move that could see the initiative reach as many as 50 million Nigerians.
Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Barau Jibrin, described the sensitisation campaign as timely, noting that public awareness remains crucial to the success of the scheme.
“No matter how beneficial a programme is, if the intended beneficiaries are not adequately informed about it, its impact will be limited. People need to understand what the programme entails and how they can access it,” Jibrin said.
He called for the awareness campaign to be extended across all six geopolitical zones to ensure wider participation by eligible students.
Also speaking, Chairman of the House Committee on Students Loans, Scholarships and Tertiary Education Financing, Hon. Ifeoluwa Eyindero, said the programme would help deepen public understanding of the opportunities available under the scheme.
“The Fund has recorded the remarkable achievement of reaching over 1.5 million beneficiary students and disbursing more than N282 billion to support Nigerian scholars,” he said.
Earlier, Chairman of the Senate Committee on TETFUND, Senator Muntari Dandutse, said the sensitisation programme formed part of the committee’s constitutional oversight responsibilities and reaffirmed its commitment to promoting equitable access to education for all Nigerians.
The student loan scheme, introduced to remove financial barriers to education, has become one of the Federal Government’s flagship interventions in the education sector, with authorities expressing confidence that its expansion will accelerate human capital development and national transformation.
