NELFUND Loan Doesn’t Tie Students to Nigeria, Says MD Sawyerr

The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has reassured students that receiving loans under the student loan scheme will not restrict their ability to travel abroad after graduation.

Akintunde Sawyerr, Managing Director and Chief Executive of NELFUND, clarified this during a sensitisation programme at Edo University, Iyamho. He was responding to concerns from students regarding potential travel restrictions tied to the loans.

Sawyerr emphasized that the law establishing NELFUND does not impose any limitations on beneficiaries’ ability to travel or work abroad after graduation. “The law that set up the Nigerian Education Loan Fund does not limit your ability to go and look for work wherever you want. You are not tied. It doesn’t say you cannot leave Nigeria because you have a loan with us,” he said. “You can go wherever you want to go in the world. It is not possible for you to say that I can’t travel around the world.”

However, Sawyerr did advise students to take personal responsibility for repaying their loans, regardless of where they may find employment. “I think the right and proper thing to do, if you have a loan in Nigeria and you want to get a job somewhere else, is to pay the loan yourself back to your country,” he added.

Sawyerr further encouraged students to take advantage of the NELFUND loan scheme, highlighting its unique benefits compared to other types of loans. “I want you to embrace it and I want you to act upon it because, if you miss this opportunity, it’s one that will affect generations. NELFUND is different from all other types of loans. It is the only loan you can take to acquire something that can never be taken away from you,” he explained.

One of the key features of the NELFUND loan is its interest-free repayment structure, even if repayment extends over a decade.

Sawyerr also provided updates on the disbursement process, revealing that NELFUND is prepared to distribute up to N135 billion once all applications are processed. “We have received about 520,000 registrations and about 419,000 applications. We have processed and paid 261,000 students for both upkeep and institutional fees,” he said.

He further noted, “Our total exposure today, if we were to pay everybody that has applied, is somewhere in the region of N135 billion. But we have not processed all those people. We have got the money and we are ready in case all of them get processed. We can disburse N135 billion.”