NELFund to intervene as 500 UI students risk missing fee payment deadline

At least 500 students at the University of Ibadan (UI) have been listed as the beneficiaries of an emergency fundraiser.

The students, campus sources tell TheCable, include undergraduates who applied for the federal student loan as far back as May 2024.

In August, the UI management received over N201 million in student loans from the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFund).

The funds were to cover the fees of 1,370 students of the institution who sought loans for the 2023/2024 academic session.

Bolaji Aweda, a student leader at UI, said the fee payment deadline for UI’s 2023/2024 session is set for September 20.

He said undergraduates who applied for student loans, hundreds of whom are yet to be paid, risk being dropped from their programmes.

This, he said, prompted UI’s student body to initiate an emergency fundraiser intended to clear the financial obligations of at least 500.

“They applied at different times. Some in May. Some in June. Others in July and August. A lot of them have still not been approved for payment,” he said.

“We tried to reach out to NELFund and see if a special arrangement could be made for UI, considering our fee deadline of September 20 and other payment issues. We have not gotten a response. It’s becoming worrisome for a lot of undergraduates.”

The UI governing council recently approved new fee rates for students, with up to N412,000 payable depending on the course of study.

“More school fees means people need to raise more money,” Aweda added over a voice call.

“A lot of them had NELFund as their only hope. Applying and not getting the loan shatters that hope.”

Nasir Ayitogo, press director at NELFund, told TheCable that the fund looks to engage with the UI management on the issue.

He said it will request that UI grants the student loan applicants “unfettered access” to participate in classroom activities and exams pending the completion of their eligibility screening.

“We’ve done disbursement to the University of Ibadan. But more students applied after that disbursement,” Ayitogo explained.

“We are in talks with the institution. We’re sending them a list of all the students who have so far applied after the first disbursement. They will be allowed unfettered access to their exams and any other academic activities pending when we disburse the money.

“There is no timeframe for disbursement. It is based on verification. When UI verifies the list sent to them, we pay immediately.

“The application process itself is a form of screening. You cannot go through a particular stage if you don’t have some required details. But if you have applied successfully, you’re 99.9 percent certain to get the loan. We have funds to cover over 1.2 million students.

“And so far, we have less than 500,000 applications. So, we have enough funds to go around for every student. Money is not the issue.”

The federal government enacted an initial version of the student loan policy in June 2023 to grant interest-free loans to students.

The scheme was to commence in October 2023 but implementation was repeatedly deferred until a re-enactment in April 2024.

NELFund opened the loan application portal on May 24, at which time a pilot phase to serve federal tertiary institutions began.