Students Want NELFUND Expanded To Private Tertiary Institutions

The leadership of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) in the Southwest has commended President Bola Tinubu for establishing and sustaining the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) and called for its expansion to include students of private tertiary institutions.

Addressing a press conference in Osogbo, Osun State, yesterday, the coordinator of the National Association of Nigerian Students, Southwest Zone D, Adeyemo Josiah Kayode, aka ‘Billion Codes’, noted that students of private tertiary institutions are also Nigerians and deserve support.

According to him, “This initiative has been a lifeline for hundreds of thousands of Nigerian students. As of December 2025, NELFUND has disbursed over N161 billion in interest-free student loans to more than 864,000 beneficiaries across 263 public tertiary institutions nationwide 12.

He strongly encouraged every eligible student across the Southwest to take advantage of the opportunity and apply for the student loan without delay, and challenged student leaders at every institution in the zone to actively sensitise their members on the benefits and application process of NELFUND.

The students expressed concern over the escalating cost of off-campus accommodation across the Southwest and called on state governments and Houses of Assembly in Oyo, Osun, Ogun, Ekiti, and Ondo states to immediately follow the progressive example set by the Lagos State Government with its Tenancy Bill of 2025.

They also issued a 7-day notice of engagement, effective from February 18, 2026, to the management of institutions that hiked fees arbitrarily, to open dialogue with student union governments in their respective institutions and to review these increments in the interest of accessibility and fairness.

“In a nation where the minimum wage is a paltry N77,000, it is both morally reprehensible and economically illogical for institutions to impose fees that are ten to twenty times that amount”.

While recognising the economic pressures on institutions, they contended that decisions affecting students must be transparent, consultative, justifiable, and gradual.