NELFUND: Vice-Chancellor Warns Students Against Defaulting on Loan Repayment

The Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan (UI), Prof. Kayode Oyebode Adebowale, has cautioned students against taking the student loan without the intention of paying back.

Prof. Adebowale gave this warning on Thursday in Ibadan during a strategic engagement with the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) officials, university management, and students of the institution.

Represented by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration), Prof. Peter Olamakinde Olapegba, Adebowale urged students to utilise the loan scheme responsibly, warning that failure to repay would impact future generations who may need the loan.

“Don’t apply for the loan with the mindset that you will take it and not pay back because if you do that, generations to come will not have the opportunity to take the loan. I want you to be responsible. It is very easy to criticise our leaders, but if you take the loan and refuse to pay back, you are worse than the leaders you are criticising. But I know that the students of this university will not do that,” Prof. Adebowale appealed.

He described the loan scheme as a welcome development that has provided an opportunity for many students to access university education.

“Many people in the past were unable to afford university education, but with the loan scheme, the current generation is lucky to have access to such opportunities.

So when the government  came on board with this loan, I saw it as a welcome development. It is an opportunity that we all should embrace with open arms,” he added.

The Vice Chancellor also dispelled the notion that university education is free in other countries, noting that citizens often take loans to fund their education.

“I know that 75 per cent of people here will say they want to japa (that is, to leave Nigeria for another country, usually Europe or North America, in search of better opportunities).

But do you know that the university education there is not free and citizens are taking loans to go to school? So don’t let anyone bamboozle you. You also get upkeeps apart from fees. Take this opportunity,” he said.

Timely Disbursement of Loans

During the engagement, students pleaded with NELFUND officials to ensure timely disbursement of loans and upkeep allowances.

Responding, the Director of Monitoring and Evaluation, NELFUND, Aliyu Mohammed, assured students that the Fund has introduced an automated system that will ensure timely disbursement of loans and upkeep allowances.

“With the updated and automated system, there won’t be any delay in disbursement. The one that your institutions uploaded today, I am telling you this for free that within the next two weeks, all disbursement will be made. The automated system has taken care of the issue of not approving loan early to prevent academic disruption,” he promised.

He also added that NELFUND, in a few weeks, will create a code with which students will be able to check their loan status easily without logging in.

“In the next two weeks, we will disseminate some information: there is a code you will insert like if you want to check your credit or your data balance. That code will enable you to see your status without logging to your dash board to simplify the issue,” he said.

Mohammed further explained to the students that the institutional loan is compulsory for those who need it while the upkeep loan is optional, adding that the Fund will disburse loans directly to institutions for tuition fees and to students for upkeep allowances, in line with the law establishing the NELFUND.