The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) was conceived by the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration as a revolutionary intervention designed to dismantle the financial barriers preventing brilliant but impoverished students from accessing higher education. The scheme, established under the Access to Higher Education Act of 2023, was designed with impeccable intentions: interest-free loans, deferred repayments, and direct disbursements to institutions to ensure transparency.
Barely two years after official disbursements of finds, reports of systemic malfeasance within tertiary institutions have beginning to proliferat at an alarming rate, casting a pall of apprehension over the scheme’s viability. The rumour about institutional malpractice has sown serious disquiet, eroding confidence in the initiative’s governance framework at a distressingly premature stage.
We had presumed this systemic vulnerability had been circumvented through the government’s commendable disbursement mechanisms. Yet, predictably, those who view public service as little more than a vehicle for self-enrichment have contrived fresh methods to pilfer from the very citizens they are duty-bound to safeguard.
Yesterday, Managing Director of the scheme, Akintunde Sawyerr, issued a stern warning of impending legal action against institutions found culpable of concealing student loan disbursements whilst persistently demanding fee payments from beneficiaries. Sawyerr revealed that internal audits had unearthed disturbing evidence of universities accepting loan transfers yet neglecting to notify affected students or adjust their financial records, a duplicitous practice tantamount to fraudulent double dipping.
The revelation is not just administrative misconduct, it is an act of outright sabotage against the future of Nigeria’s youth. At a time when the government has taken the unprecedented step of establishing the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) to break the financial barriers imprisoning bright but indigent students, it is nothing short of scandalous that the very institutions meant to nurture these young minds are instead scheming to exploit them.
For many Nigerians acquainted with our nation’s academic institutions, this revelation scarcely qualifies as surprising. Such malfeasance was all but inevitable, given how our public universities have degenerated into hotbeds of institutionalised corruption, from the reprehensible “sex-for-grades” scandals to myriad of other anti-intellectual practices that have eroded academic integrity. These citadels of learning have been reduced to factories producing barely literate graduates, their intellectual currency devalued even before they enter an already saturated job market. The question demands confrontation: how does one rationalise such systemic decay?
This is not a mere bureaucratic oversight; it is institutionalised fraud of the most cynical kind. Imagine the cruelty: a student, having secured a lifeline through the loan scheme, arrives at school only to be told that no such funds have been received, or worse, that the fees must still be paid. Meanwhile, somewhere in the university administration, those funds may very well be sitting in an account, diverted, withheld, or otherwise manipulated by officials who see public money as personal bounty. The audacity is staggering. After years of lamenting inadequate funding, these institutions now have an opportunity to facilitate direct financial support to their students and some are choosing instead to play a shell game with their futures.
Compounding this outrage is the bitter irony that these alleged malpractices occured under the banner of institutions ostensibly dedicated to enlightenment and social mobility. Universities, which should be bastions of integrity, stand accused of perpetrating financial subterfuge that would embarrass even the most unscrupulous commercial enterprises.
The government must be commended for detecting this malfeasance early enough. NELFUND’s decision to pursue legal measures against erring institutions sends a clear message: this kind of predatory behaviour will not be tolerated. For too long, Nigeria’s education system has suffered under the weight of corruption at all levels, with students paying the price for the greed of a few. If this loan initiative is to succeed, and it must succeed, then there can be no leniency for those who seek to undermine it.
But beyond punitive measures, this scandal exposes a deeper sickness in the management of some of Nigeria’s tertiary institutions. Where is the accountability? Where is the basic sense of responsibility toward the students whose lives depend on these funds? That any university administration could look at a struggling student and still find a way to withhold their legally disbursed loan and even request for another, is not just incompetence, it is moral bankruptcy.
The brazenness of these alleged transgressions demands immediate and unequivocal action. NELFUND must adopt a policy of radical transparency by publicly identifying all institutions implicated in these fraudulent practices, name and shame them to serves a dual purpose: it acts as both a deterrent to other would-be offenders and restores a measure of accountability to a system riddled with impunity. The moral bankruptcy of administrators who would steal from their own students, many of whom hail from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, cannot be overstated.
The government’s response must extend beyond mere reprimands. A comprehensive audit of all loan disbursements should be conducted forthwith, with the findings made accessible to the public. Furthermore, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) must be mobilised to investigate and prosecute offending institutions to the fullest extent of the law. Only through such decisive action can confidence in the scheme be restored and its original vision preserved.
Discussion about this post