VC Decries Low Participation Of Southeast Students In NELFUND

The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), Prof. Simon Ortuanya, has decried the low level of participation by students from the Southeast in the Federal Government’s Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).

He described the situation as worrisome despite the enormous benefits of the scheme.

The UNN Vice-Chancellor spoke at the university’s 55th Convocation Ceremony, where he disclosed that only about 7,201 UNN students have so far benefited from the education loan programme.

Ortuanya described NELFUND as a landmark innovation capable of removing financial barriers to university education, saying no qualified Nigerian should be denied access to higher education because of a lack of funds.

He commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for introducing the initiative, noting that it had opened new opportunities for students across the country.

“I can tell you that what it means is that when anybody wants to go to the university, money is no longer the problem.”

He expressed dismay that the Southeast was lagging behind other regions in accessing the facility, revealing that statistics presented during a recent stakeholders’ meeting in Enugu showed the region had recorded far fewer beneficiaries than expected.

He added that the figures were presented during a meeting convened by Governor Peter Mbah with the Managing Director of NELFUND, where heads of tertiary institutions across Enugu State were briefed on the implementation of the scheme.

“The statistics were worrisome. In the whole of the Southeast, the number of beneficiaries of NELFUND is not equal to what one state in the Northeast has recorded. That’s because they take it seriously,” he said.

He described the loan as a rare financial opportunity, stressing that it attracts zero interest, making it advantageous even for families capable of paying tuition outright.