Members of the National Assembly from the South East geo-political zone have voiced their concerns over the exclusion of South East tertiary institutions from the Federal Government’s student loan program.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the South East National Assembly caucus, led by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe and Hon. Igariwey Iduma Enwo, urged the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) to rectify what they see as an injustice.
The caucus expressed disbelief at the complete omission of South East institutions from the list of beneficiaries, dismissing NELFUND’s justification as insufficient.
The statement read in part: “The attention of the South East caucus of the National Assembly has been drawn to the glaring absence of beneficiaries from South East tertiary institutions in the list of beneficiaries of the students’ loan being disbursed on behalf of the Federal Government by the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).”
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It continued, “With a total of N2,946,927,155 already disbursed to 27,667 students from 19 institutions in the country, South East higher institutions were conspicuously missing from the list. In its defence, NELFUND has stated that the absence of beneficiaries from South East institutions was because even though verification lists have been sent to all schools, South East institutions are yet to respond to their request for the verification of the lists sent to them.”
The caucus urged South East institutions to promptly address the verification requests from NELFUND to enable students from the region to benefit from the program. They also encouraged South East students to apply for the loans.
The statement added, “This is important as it can help ameliorate some of the challenges limiting access to higher education, which we must all agree is critical to self-development and growth.”
The South East caucus emphasized that the region should not marginalize itself from opportunities available to all Nigerians and asserted, “It is important that as a people, we do not intentionally marginalise ourselves from opportunities which are open to all Nigerians. Those opportunities are our right and we must, like others, demand for what rightfully belongs to us.”
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