CLOSE-UP: Can these men be trusted with student loan funds?

Following a presidential approval, the Economic and Financial  Crimes Commission (EFCC) recently released N50 billion from recovered crime proceeds to the National Education Loan Fund (NELFund) for the student loan initiative.

As of August 2, NELFund said it had disbursed over N2.5 billion to more than 22,120 applicants in the student loan scheme. Although hopes are high among Nigerian students from low-income homes that there is some succour for them to fund their education, some are concerned if there will be transparency and accountability in the management of the funds. A commentator jokingly asked: hope the recovered loot will not be re-looted?

TheCable zeroes in on the key figures in NELFund.

JIM OVIA: BOARD CHAIRMAN

Ovia, appointed in April 2024 as the pioneer board chairman of NELFund, is a renowned banker and businessman. He is the founder and chairman of Zenith Bank, one of Africa’s largest banks with over $24 billion in assets and shareholders’ funds of over $3 billion as of June 2022. He is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School (OPM), University of Louisiana (MBA), and Southern University in Louisiana (BSc Business Administration).

Ovia is a member of the World Economic Forum (WEF) community of chairpersons as well as a champion of the Forum’s EDISON Alliance. In his circle, he is extolled as one of the godfathers of Nigerian banking and considered one of the country’s influential business moguls. Ovia is the founder of Visafone Communications Limited and the chairman of both the Nigerian Software Development Initiative (NSDI) and the National Information Technology Advisory Council (NITAC).

Recently, his bank was embroiled in a dispute with Femi Otedola, acclaimed strong man of the money and capital markets, over allegations of fraud. Otedola filed a court case against Zenith Bank, alleging that it dishonestly disposed of his shares. He also accused Zenith Bank of unlawfully using the account of his company, Seaforce Shipping Limited, to trade in 2011 without his knowledge or consent. The issues were eventually settled out of court.

His expertise also extends to the life sciences, consumer products, and oil & gas sectors, where he managed operations across 21 countries in the Middle East, North Africa, and Turkey for DHL in 2007. Sawyerr was also the head of the supply chain for London at DHL EXEL Supply Chain. He founded the Produce Export Development Association (PEDA), formerly known as AFGEAN.

Sawyerr was born on October 6, 1964, in London, UK, where he started his elementary education. He momentarily returned to Nigeria and enrolled at Igbobi College Lagos. He later went back to the UK, where he completed his secondary education at the Royal Russell School. Sawyerr later proceeded to the University of London to study Chemistry, graduating with a BSc in Chemistry.

FEMI AKINFALA: ED, FINANCE AND ADMIN

Akinfala, the pioneer ED of finance and admin, has written a series of articles on NELFund to enlighten Nigerians on its importance and limitations, promising that it would do its best to meet the yearnings of the students. “NELFUND is determined to fulfil the desires of President Bola Tinubu and the Renewed Hope agenda. It is a pan-Nigerian policy, which is non-discriminatory, and will ensure equal access to every eligible Nigerian student, regardless of tribe, religion, or language,” he wrote in one of his interventions.

In another article, he wrote that “the Nigeria Education Loan Fund stands as a critical intervention in the pursuit of social justice in Nigeria. By addressing the financial barriers to higher education, empowering marginalised people, and fostering inclusive economic development, the NELFUND has the potential to catalyse a more just and equitable future for the country.”

Akinfala is used to being a pioneer. He was the first the director of HR and general services of the Nigeria Police Trust Fund (NPTF), which was founded in 2019. He was among the officials questioned during a 2021 anti-graft inquiry into the spending of a N1.6 billion NPTF take-off grant. He was also questioned over the procurement of sub-standard equipment that gulped part of the N11 billion donated funds. The procurement of  640 sub-standard bullet proof vests, 120 ballistic helmets and 120 buffalo fans for the police by the NPTF management was investigated by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC). The outcome of the probe was never made public.

MUSTAPHA IYAL: ED, OPERATIONS

Iyal is a 2013 Computer Application & IT graduate of Jamia Hamdard Institute in New Delhi, India. Over the last decade, Mustapha Iyal has worked as an IT Project Manager and Operations Director on projects across diverse industries. He designs and implements scalable IT infrastructure to leverage emerging technologies for business process optimisation.

Between 2011 and 2013, he was an assistant network engineer at the Indian Institute of Hardware Technology. He returned to Nigeria post-graduation to work as a network administrator at the Kaduna State AIDS Control Agency. Iyal worked with the Partnership for Advocacy in Child and Family Health (PACFaH) as a monitoring and evaluation officer between 2015 and 2016.

Until late 2018, he was the assistant to the MD of Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement Systems (NIBSS) PLC. From 2019 to 2023, Iyal was a personal assistant to the deputy governor of operations at the CBN. He obtained a master’s in information management in 2023.

OLUWAFUNMILAYO ALAGBADA: BOARD SECRETARY/GENERAL COUNSEL

Before joining the NELFund board in 2024, Alagbada was a legal practitioner. She was the vice president for West Africa at the pan-African investment firm Platform Capital between 2022 and 2023. Alagbada was the company secretary and head of HR at Strand Capital Partners Limited between 2008 and 2012.She obtained her LLB from the University of Buckingham UK in 1997 and an MA in International Business from Bournemouth University in 2001. Alagbada has worked largely for private sector firms and non-profits.