The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has disbursed N50 billion to the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, NELFUND, to support the education of indigent students.
This was announced during a courtesy visit by NELFUND's Managing Director, Mr. Akintunde Sawyerr, and his team to the EFCC headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday.
Sawyerr expressed gratitude for the EFCC's contribution, which was generated from recovered proceeds of crime.
He emphasised the importance of supporting education, citing the neglect of Nigeria's youth as a significant problem. President Bola Tinubu's administration launched NELFUND to address this issue.
EFCC Chairman, Mr. Ola Olukoyede, commended President Tinubu for initiating NELFUND, describing it as a "policy issue against crimes."
He praised the president's efforts to tackle the challenges facing Nigeria's youth.
The N50 billion funding is expected to make a significant impact on the education sector, providing opportunities for disadvantaged students to access quality education.
He also stated that the lack of parents’ educational support is a contributing factor to children’s involvement in financial crimes.
He said, “One of the main incentives for cybercrimes is the inability of parents to fund the education of their children. NELFUND is a policy issue against crimes. President Tinubu should be commended for initiating the Fund.”
The EFCC boss advised the NELFUND management team to ensure transparency in their dealings, which, according to him, would assist in the fight against corruption.
“Let your hands be clean. I repeat, let your hands be clean. The work entrusted to you is going to help the EFCC fight corruption. Let your systems and processes be transparent,” he urged.
Olukoyede tasked the NELFUND boss to give reports on the disbursement of its money to the EFCC while stressing his commitment to ensure the N50bn donation isn’t “re-looted.”
He said, “I will fight to ensure that money pooled together to support NELFUND is not re-looted. We want your management to be giving reports of your disbursement to the EFCC.
“Don’t sign what is not clear to you. Don’t give in to any pressure. Let your staff know that there is no money to share.”
Olukoyede called on Nigerians to ensure the success of the NELFUND initiative and that of the Tinubu-led administration.
On April 3, 2024, Tinubu signed the Student Loans (Access to Higher Education) Act (Repeal and Re-Enactment) Bill, 2024, into law.
The registration for the programme took off in May with 1.2 million students in federal tertiary institutions across the country – starting the first batch.
On Wednesday, August 7, 2024, NELFUND announced what it described as a significant milestone, receiving the highest number of student loan applications within 24 hours since the launch of its portal on May 25, 2024.
NELFUND said it “recorded 9,687 student registrations, with 7,975 completed loan applications,” on August 7, 2024.
According to data released on Friday, August 2, 2024, an additional 2,120 students had benefited from the student loan scheme bringing the total number of beneficiaries to 22,120.
A statement by NELFUND’s spokesman, Nasir Ayitogo, in Abuja said the loans disbursed across many institutions totalled N2.5bn.
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