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President Bola Tinubu has launched the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) to boost education.
He emphasized that education remains a vital tool in combating poverty as well as achieving national development.
Speaking at the formal launch of NELFUND and ceremonial disbursement of funds at the State House, Abuja, the President said that education is the greatest weapon against poverty, providing vision, development, and hope.
He noted that without education, conquering insecurity and achieving success is impossible, stressing that education provides the light at the end of the tunnel, no matter how slow the progress may seem.
He said: "I believe that education is the greatest weapon against poverty in any society; without education there is no vision, there is development and you cannot successfully conquer insecurity.
“Education is that light at the end of the tunnel no matter how sluggish you move, it will give you the light and the hope.”
The President further noted that Nigeria would continue to invest in education to empower the citizens and deploy it as a tool against terrorism, banditry and insecurity.
“We are investing, we don’t want to try ignorance as alternative, we want education from foundations to the topmost level and I am glad that leadership and its leadership accepted the responsibility.
“There is available here the hope and the genuine and commitment, inclusiveness is what democracy is all about.
“Today I am fufilling one of my greatest campaign agenda. You cannot find your way if you are not well educated, you cannot even fight terrorism and banditry.
“If we have successful inclusive and loan that is necessary for our people to get educated and invest in their own lives, we would have built a fair society and a promise that we will earn a banner without stain to our children.
He also symbolically presented loan cheques to students from each of the six geo-political zones, indicating the beginning of the disbursement of the fund to qualified Nigerian students.
President Tinubu later presented cheques to Vice Chancellors of Bayero University, Kano (BUK), Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), among other institutions present.
Earlier in his speech, NELFUND’s Executive Secretary, Akintunde Sawyerr, disclosed NELFUND portal’s key metrics from 25th May, 2024 to date, saying a total of 164,000 students registered for the loan while 103,000 of them applied.
Sawyerr added that a total sum of N32 billion is currently available for disbursement to kick start the programme.
According to him, the aim of NELFUND is to empower Nigerian youth by providing fair transparent funding and removing financial barriers to educational opportunities and academic pursuits.
Speaking with newsmen after the launch, NELFUND Executive Secretary stated that the Fund had received more loan applications from institutions in the northern part of the country.
