The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) is taking steps to support its beneficiaries beyond just providing financial assistance by developing a centralised job portal that will connect students with employment opportunities in Nigeria and abroad.
The portal will aggregate job listings from both the public and private sectors, as well as international employers interested in hiring Nigerians.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive of NELFUND, Akintunde Sawyerr, revealed this during a briefing with newsmen on Thursday, as part of activities marking the first year anniversary of the Fund in Nigeria.
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He noted that the initiative is part of the agency’s efforts to support students’ journey towards economic stability.
“We don’t just give a loan and leave students on their own. This job portal is our way of supporting their journey toward economic stability,” he said.
Sawyerr emphasised that repayment of the loan will only commence after beneficiaries secure employment, following their National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) program.
In addition to the job portal, Sawyerr added that NELFUND is also working to address concerns around non-refund of fees to students who paid before NELFUND disbursed funds to their institutions.
He appealed to schools to return these fees, stressing that institutions have a moral and professional duty to do so.
“We’ve received multiple petitions from students who paid under duress only to find their fees had also been paid by NELFUND.
“Institutions must refund this money. It’s disappointing that some schools have ignored this responsibility,” he said.
He also disclosed that NELFUND has disbursed over N73.2 billion in loans to 396,252 students across the country as of July 2025.
Sawyerr noted that the Fund has received 645,692 loan applications from eligible students across the 36 states and the FCT, with a processing rate of 94 percent across 206 tertiary institutions.
He said credit must go to the President, Bola Tinubu for seeing to the effective take-off of the Students loan scheme through passage by the National Assembly.
According to him, the political will of the President to birth a Fund of this nature, at a point where some undergraduates were at the verge of dropping out of school remains noteworthy.
The MD also said the policy is aimed at democratising access to higher education and skill development through sustainable financing.
Sawyerr revealed, “Since we opened our application portal in May 2024, we have made remarkable progress that is both measurable and meaningful.
“Over 645,692 applications have been received from eligible students across Nigeria’s 36 states and the FCT. Tuition and upkeep loans have been successfully disbursed to more than 396, 252 students, many of whom are first-generation students in tertiary institutions.
“We have deployed a fully digital, transparent loan portal, built to global standards, to ensure seamless processing, tracking and verification.
“But let me be clear, this journey has not been without its challenges. We have encountered issues with some institutional data integrity, delays in verification processes and widespread misinformation. Yet, through it all, we have remained steadfast improving our systems, engaging directly with applicants, training institutional focal points and responding swiftly to tickets, concerns and grievances.”
Sawyerr, however, acknowledged some constraints faced by the Fund, accusing some tertiary institution management of failing in data integrity, delays in verification processes and widespread misinformation.
He regretted the spate of misinformation trailing the Fund in the media space, warning that such may jeopardise the noble ideas behind setting it up.
He therefore enjoined Nigerians to always consult the Fund’s management on grey areas that need clarification, rather than resorting to peddling falsehood
