Mr. Akintunde Sawyer, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), has stated that the fund will be properly administered.
The NELFUND executive emphasised that the fund is intended for indigent children who require unrestricted access to education. He stated that NELFUND will ensure that every kobo disbursed from the fund is directed towards the education of the disadvantaged.
Sawyer spoke during a stakeholders’ meeting yesterday at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) on the issue of sustaining education loans for the development of the Nigerian economy, which was organised in collaboration with the Coalition Against Corruption and Bad Governance (CACOBAG).
The NELFUND boss, who sought the support of all stakeholders, stressed the essence of transparency of the programme to ensure its success.
He said: “This is a life-changing opportunity in the country. This money is coming from taxes. It is a redistribution of wealth to empower. One per cent of the taxes is used to fund education.
“This loan programme is the most important programme in the country today. NELFUND is out of bounds to corruption. It is for children, it is not open to pilfering, theft.
“We have come here to report ourselves to make ourselves accountable to Nigeria, to ensure the money is judiciously used. And NELFUND will make it happen. It is important we hold ourselves accountable in this country.
“Every kobo of the money should go into the education of the underprivileged. I am against people stealing from children. We want eyes on it now. That’s why we are engaging civil society organisations (CSOs). We should make it work for the sake of disadvantaged children out there.”
Chairman Toyin Raheem said the Education Loan was pivotal to quality education for many indigent students across the country. He expressed optimism that the scheme would succeed.
The chairperson of the occasion and founder of Nigeria Network of NGOs, Ms. Yemisi Ransome-Kuti, hailed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the initiative. The activist described it as a catalyst for development.
“We need to fashion a system to ensure everyone benefits from the programme, to ensure the loans are well utilised and get to the indigent students.
“Our goal is to begin the process of establishing a process to monitor and evaluate the fund. At the end of this engagement, we should have an evaluation framework in place to ensure transparency.
“We want a transparent mechanism that would ensure the indigent students truly get the loan. Then there should be avenue for beneficiaries to give back,” she said.
A former Chief Accountant of Chevron, Vincent Bakare, thanked the Tinubu administration for the scheme and advised that the repayment plan should not be made difficult for students.