NELFUND: Varsity Students Celebrate, Stock Foodstuffs With N20,000 Loan

Some university students who recently benefitted from the N20,000 stipend paid by the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) have begun celebrating the receipt of the money. While some took to social media to share their surprise, others narrated how they spent the money on foodstuffs. A few said it took the burden of care off their parents.

A total of 20,371 students from six tertiary institutions were said to have been paid a sum of N20,000 each for their July stipends. The institutions said to have benefitted from the disbursement are Bayero University, Kano State; Federal University, Dutsin-Ma, Katsina State; University of Ilorin, Kwara State; University of Benin, Edo State; University of Ibadan, Oyo State; and University of Maiduguri, Borno State.

Students who received the stipend expressed their excitement and gratitude, with some using the money to buy foodstuffs and others planning to use it for transportation and other expenses. However, some students complained that they did not receive the payment, and the Fund’s Director of Corporate Communications, Oseyemi Oluwatuyi, explained that some students had not been verified and approved.

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) questioned why NELFUND could not disburse the loan to the universities simultaneously and reiterated its opposition to the loan. The National President of ASUU, Emmanuel Osodeke, said, “We don’t know what is happening. As a union, we have said we are not in support of the loan.”

The Senate President of the National Association of Nigerian Students, Akinteye Babatunde, said the loan would reduce the financial pressure on the beneficiaries and their parents, but emphasized the importance of paying back the loan to enable others to benefit.