The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFund) has disbursed a total of N99.5 billion to students and institutions in just 16 months since the loan scheme was launched on 24 May 2024.
According to official data obtained by LEADERSHIP Weekend from a Student Loan Disbursement Status Report dated 24 September 2025, a total of 510,378 students have so far benefited from the loan scheme.
The breakdown shows that N53.8 billion was paid directly to institutions as tuition fees, while N45.7 billion went to students as upkeep allowance.
In total, 228 tertiary institutions across Nigeria are currently accessing the scheme.
The data stated: “A total of 228 institutions have benefited, with 829,423 applications received. So far, 510,378 students have accessed the loan scheme.
“As of 10 September, N53,801,717,293.00 has been paid as institutional fees, while N45,751,360,000.00 has been released as upkeep allowance. This brings the total loan disbursed to N99,553,077,293.00,” it stated.
Despite the nationwide success, the scheme has faced challenges in achieving equitable distribution across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones.
Figures sighted by LEADERSHIP dated May 2025 revealed wide gaps between the North and other regions across the country.
The North West recorded the highest number of applicants, with 157,831 students, followed by the North East (127,058) and the South West (92,850).
In contrast, only 27,098 students from the South-East and 37,180 from the South-South applied, while the North-Central had 74,120 applicants.
When contacted for an update on the current status of regional disparities, Mrs Oseyemi Oluwatuyi, Director of Strategic Communications at NELFund, declined to comment, saying: “Sorry, we cannot supply such information. It is sensitive.”
The figures have generated mixed reactions among education stakeholders and regional leaders.
Speaking to one of our correspondents, Mr Isaac Oche, a statistician based in Abuja, said the low participation from the South-East states, as earlier reported by NELFUND, may be due to the reluctance of students who fear being overburdened by debt repayment.
“The numbers show that students from the South are not fully taking advantage of this lifeline, although I know NELFUND has done a lot of sensitisation in that region. I believe the current status may have improved by now,” he said.
“It could also be due to mistrust of government schemes or poor awareness at the grassroots. We need aggressive sensitisation in the region, and I commend the Fund for the efforts they are already making. But more still needs to be done to erase doubts and build trust.”
On their part, students hailed the programme as one of the most impactful policies of the present administration, but they lamented that the government restricted the monthly upkeep allowance to holidays only.
Cletus Tse, a final-year student at Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University, Makurdi, explained how the scheme has improved his academic journey.
“Without this loan, I would have dropped out in my second year. The financial relief has helped me focus on my studies without worrying too much about tuition and fees.”
Tse, however, expressed concern about the disbursement process.
“The government should work on making the upkeep allowance disbursement faster because many of us face delays. Sometimes the allowance comes when the semester is almost ending, and that defeats the purpose,” he said.
Tse also called for stronger job creation policies to ensure graduates are able to repay.
“It is good that the loan is helping us stay in school, but repayment will only be realistic if there are jobs waiting for us after graduation.
“Government must match this initiative with employment opportunities so that it does not become another burden,” he added.
South East Leaders Decry Low Student Loan Uptake In Region
Leaders of the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, the Ohanaeze N’digbo, and prominent stakeholders in the South East have expressed concern over the low usage of the federal government’s initiative on student loans and its under-utilisation in the zone.
Against the backdrop of the concern expressed by the management of Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK), Awka, Anambra State, about students’ low interest in applying for the federal government students loan scheme tagged Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), immediate past national vice-president of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Damian Okeke-Ogene, has described the development as worrisome.
He told LEADERSHIP Weekend that students of the zone that had been crying out over marginalisation should not see such opportunity and ignore it.
“NELFUND is a national cake introduced by the federal government to reduce hardship, make it easy for students in the pursuit of acquiring university education. So, if our students are not applying for the loan, we shall be the greatest losers.
“We are still part and parcel of Nigeria. So, we should try and benefit from whatever is meant for the entire nation. And the NELFUND is for students in all the national universities, so our students should go and apply to benefit from the loan.
“We in the South East have been crying of marginalisation, and we can’t afford to lose out of the federal government students’ loan scheme,” the ex-Ohanaeze leader advised.
He urged the National Orientation Agency (NOA) to take up the responsibility of sensitising students about the loan scheme, saying that the reason for the low application might be that the students are not properly aware of the loan and how to obtain it.
Okeke-Ogene also urged the management of various universities in the zone to formally communicate with the Ohanaeze leadership concerning such low application for the loan by the students so that the organisation would confirm that such a situation exists to enable it design appropriate action plans to sensitise the students to embrace the loan scheme.
LEADERSHIP Weekend recalled that about a week ago, the UNIZIK management expressed concern that just about four per cent of the over 66,000 students had applied for the loan despite the fact that the management had uploaded information on its website to sensitise the students about it.
Our People Are Marginalised – Ohanaeze
The national president of Ohanaeze Youth Council Worldwide, Mazi Okwu Nnabuike, has lamented the inability of students from the South East to access the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, attributing it to the marginalisation of the region.
While interacting with LEADERSHIP Weekend, he submitted that the criteria set up for accessing the loan appear very rigorous as some students from the South East do not have the capability to comply with the requirements.
Mazi Okwu urged the federal government to relax some of the rules so as to enable students from the South East to obtain the loan.
He said, “From my observation, the rules set for the loan in the South East zone appear cumbersome. While students from other zones receive the same seamlessly, my people encounter difficulties and it is not right.”
On his part, Barr. China Odu called on the federal government to re-engineer and reinvigorate the system to enable students interested in the scheme to access it without much difficulty.
“We keep getting complaints in respect of the disbursement and this does not augur well for the interest and sustainable development of the nation.”
S’East Students Should Take This Opportunity – Mike Ahamba (SAN)
The Imo-born Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Mike Ahamba, expressed shock that South East students were not applying for the federal government student loan.
He blamed the leaders of the region for failing to sensitise the students.
Ahamba said, “I didn’t know that South East students have not been applying for the loan. I’m sure they have their reasons. But why they won’t apply is my worry now. It’s really unfortunate.
“I advise them to apply for the loan. Perhaps it’s the same reason the South East youths give for not applying to enlist in the military – which is that they don’t get promoted and that they are always sent to insurgency areas where they are killed.
“My position remains that the mistake we are making in Nigeria today is one mistake that (ensures) Nigeria will not have patriots.
“In Nigeria today, you can’t get anything without reference to where you come from because things are done by quota, unlike in places like the USA where you get amenities based on your location. Unfortunately, nobody knows the quota for the South East students.
“We need to find out why our youths are not applying and address it because other zones are benefiting from it,” Ahamba said.
Lack of Jobs Discouraging Candidates – Prof Obiaraeri
On his part, former senatorial aspirant and law professor, Prof Nnamdi Obiaraeri, blamed the low patronage on inadequate publicity by higher institutions and lack of jobs upon graduation.
The former Dean, Faculty of Law at Imo State University said: “The reasons for the poor subscription to the scheme across the Federation include inadequate publicity on NELFUND. Only a few tertiary institutions have taken the time to enlighten their students on the existence of the Fund and its benefits in giving higher educational access to all, especially the indigent.
“Potential beneficiaries still see the scheme as a political bait lacking the assurances and guarantees of durability. Fear of abandonment and policy somersaults by government on its previous policies is real.
“Lack of faith or trust in the NELFUND scheme is buoyed by stringent repayment conditions attached to the loan. Although the Board may waive repayment, every beneficiary who is subsequently employed is liable to repay the loan – meaning that the only condition for a student loan beneficiary not to repay the loan is to remain unemployed after graduation.
“Fear of ‘unemployment after graduation syndrome’ is also contributory. Countless Nigerians who graduated 10–15 years ago with even masters and doctoral degrees are unemployed and still hopelessly roaming the streets in search of elusive job opportunities.
‘‘This makes it unattractive to go to school in the first place, not to talk about borrowing money to acquire education and remaining unemployed thereafter. The thought of this scenario is killing, to say the least.”
Obiaraeri said assurance of jobs upon graduation will bolster students to apply for the loan.
“The scheme is well intended but it will be better appreciated, more subscribed and well received when beneficiaries are assured of gaining employment on graduation. This is where the challenge lies,” he said.
Low Loan Access Due to Decades of Exclusion – Prof Eze
Also, an Ohanaeze chieftain in Enugu State, Professor Fred Eze, has attributed the low enrolment of people from the South East in the Nigerian Education Loan Fund to years of exclusion.
Eze, a former president of Ohanaeze in Enugu State, stated that the South East had been pushed so hard that they had decided to survive by themselves.
He noted that the people of the South East do not depend much on government largesse to survive, hence the low enrolment.
We Aren’t Aware of Any Loan – Abia Parents
Surprisingly, some members of the body and prominent Abia State leaders at various levels are not aware of the Fund.
They blamed it partly on the authorities for not sensitising the public enough about it and on the students who should know more about it than their parents or guardians.
A prominent member of the apex Igbo socio-cultural body, Livinus Nzedike, also argued that the low response may be due to ignorance or lack of confidence in it.
“The gap between the South East, and the North-West and the South West as you said calls for concern and needs to be looked at critically to ascertain the reason,” he added.
A serving permanent secretary in one of the ministries and the traditional prime minister of his community, who pleaded anonymity, expressed dissatisfaction with the region’s response to the facility.
He dismissed any of the suggested probable causes of the response, arguing that it may be as a result of the fear of the mode and duration of the repayment period.
An All Progressives Congress (APC) women leader, Nkechi Kanu, who lauded President Bola Tinubu for introducing the fund, said the students are doing themselves great harm by refusing to key into it.
“How can a people, who over the years have been crying marginalisation, deny themselves such a golden opportunity,” the former secondary school principal asked.
She appealed to government authorities and the political, community, religious and traditional leaders to jointly take up the task of sensitising the people about the fund in every nook and cranny of the region.
What Ndigbo Really Want – Ohanaeze Youth Leader
Meanwhile, the president of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council, Comrade Igboayaka Igboayaka, has said that Ndigbo need seaports and international airports.
“Ndigbo are not interested in Greek gifts. There are basic needs of life and for economic development that are located in the North and West, but none in the South East, like an international cargo airport, seaports. Ndigbo can afford education to any level. We need seaports in South East, not student loans.
“Ndigbo are interested in commerce and industrial activities, and international airport and seaport are sacrosanct to industrial and business development,” he said.
