The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, has raised concerns over students allegedly accessing Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) support without informing their parents.
Oyedele made the remark on Wednesday in Abuja while responding to a journalist who said his three children in school had not benefited from NELFUND and that he was unaware of any of their friends who had received the funding.
The minister advised the journalist to ask his children whether they had applied for the scheme and to request evidence of their applications.
“It is possible they’ve collected the money, and they are collecting from you,” Oyedele said, urging parents to communicate with their children about the scheme.
He encouraged the journalist to assist his children with the application if they had not already applied, noting that NELFUND had become one of the government’s programmes with visible uptake among students.
Oyedele said beneficiaries receive more than tuition support, explaining that the scheme also provides students with monthly stipends to help them cope with living expenses.
“We’ve seen video of student randomly rejoicing because it’s not only the tuition that was being paid, they get monthly stipend interest free in a high inflationary environment,” he said.
According to the minister, students can access up to N1.5 million through the scheme, depending on their eligibility and approved funding.
He urged parents whose children had not benefited from the programme to encourage them to apply through the official NELFUND platform.
Oyedele also advised parents to obtain their children’s details and assist them with the application process, adding that those who encounter difficulties with the platform could seek assistance from the Ministry of Finance.
He further urged the journalist to verify whether his children had actually submitted applications before concluding that they had not benefited from the scheme.
The minister disclosed that NELFUND’s uptake was higher in the northern part of the country than in the South, attributing the difference partly to greater acceptance of the programme in the North.
“Interestingly, the uptake is more in the North than in the South because we spend all our energy here doubting everything that government does,” he said.
Oyedele said the government had received indications that students who successfully applied for the scheme were receiving alerts confirming their benefits.
He also recalled his experience supporting indigent students through a personal foundation, saying some beneficiaries continued to seek financial assistance from him even after he directed them to apply for available government support.
The minister therefore urged parents to verify whether their children had applied for NELFUND assistance and encouraged eligible students to take advantage of the scheme.
