The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has assured students that it is diligently developing a technology-driven system to facilitate seamless access to its loans.
Speaking at a Stakeholders Engagement Session and Technical Workshop on NELFUND System Automation and Loan Application Processes in Abuja on Tuesday, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NELFUND, Mr Akintunde Sawyerr, disclosed that over 320,000 students have already received their loan payments, while many others are currently undergoing verification.
Sawyerr noted that the goal of the Fund was not merely to disburse loans but to eliminate financial obstacles hindering Nigerian students, particularly those in polytechnics, monotechnics, and other technical institutions, from pursuing their education.
“At NELFUND, our mission goes beyond giving loans. It’s about opening doors and ensuring every young Nigerian, regardless of background or location, has access to learning and growth opportunities,” Sawyerr stated.
He stressed the need for a collaborative effort, involving government bodies, institutions, and the private sector, to ensure the success of the initiative. He added that the Fund was developing a user-friendly digital platform where students could apply for loans with confidence and institutions could verify applications with ease.
Sawyerr praised the role of technical institutions in nation-building, noting that their insights and collaboration would help shape a functional and relevant system tailored to real-world challenges.
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Also speaking at the session, NELFUND’s Executive Director of Operations, Mr Iyal Mustapha, clarified that discrepancies in successful applications were largely due to student-side errors and not the Fund’s processes. He emphasised the need to close this gap to improve efficiency.
Mustapha also revealed plans to integrate NELFUND with institutional portals via Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), allowing student data to be accessed directly from institutions without manual submissions. This would also enable students to apply for loans directly through their school portals during registration and payment processes.
“Our goal is to make the entire process seamless. Once the institutions confirm the students, we will process and disburse funds directly—quickly and accurately,” Mustapha said.
The engagement underscored NELFUND’s resolve to create a robust and sustainable system that prioritises the needs and dreams of Nigerian students, with the active cooperation of tertiary institutions and regulatory bodies like the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE).
