The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has not yet started recovering loans from beneficiaries, even as its monthly upkeep payments have risen to about ₦16bn.
NELFUND Managing Director, Akintunde Sawyerr, disclosed this during an interview with ARISE NEWS on Monday, saying the Federal Government was considering alternative funding sources to sustain the student loan programme.
Sawyerr noted that the scheme, which has been in operation for more than two years, was yet to record loan recoveries. He raised questions about how the fund’s increasing financial commitments would be sustained without a steady source of repayment.
“I think the President, in his magnanimity, is looking for ingenious ways to be able to continue to fund education. It’s a loan scheme. It’s two years plus old.
“We’re not getting any recoveries of the loans as of today. But how do you keep it going? We have a bill every month, as of today, of about 16 billion in upkeep alone. How do you maintain that? How do you keep that going?
“I think what the President is doing is looking for different ways of re-channeling, redirecting funds to a cause that is indeed very worthy from capital that’s probably sitting idle,” Sawyerr said.
Sawyerr: Recovered crime proceeds could support young Nigerians
Sawyerr also disclosed that the Federal Government was considering using recovered proceeds of crime, alongside other funding sources, to support education.
He argued that redirecting such funds towards young Nigerians could help address some of the effects of public resources being diverted from critical sectors such as education.
“Finally, you talked about corridors—sharing corridors of proceeds of crime. Again, it is those corridors, those proceeds of crime, that in many ways have led to the neglect in education. We must be able to find the link to make our country better,” he said.
Sawyerr, however, clarified that the proposal was not aimed at encouraging plea bargains or protecting individuals accused of misappropriating public funds.
“I don’t believe that what is intended here is to approach those who have… The President did not say, ‘Go and plea bargain or set up a plea bargain arrangement with those who have misappropriated Nigeria’s funds and then give it to NELFUND.’ He didn’t say that. The issues of misappropriated funds and proceeds of crime are entirely separate—completely separate to NELFUND,” Sawyerr said.
According to him, the idea is to redirect recovered funds towards young Nigerians who have been affected by the diversion of public resources.
“What has happened is that people have been found wanting in terms of fund acquisition, looting—as is the word that is commonly used—when those cases are settled, and the liquid elements of that are warehoused somewhere, the President is asking a very important question: ‘Why can’t we use it for the victims who suffered for some of these crimes?’” he said.
“And the victims tend to be the young; they tend to be those who want to get an education. So, he’s looking—he’s very focused, President Tinubu is very focused on trying to help those at the bottom of the ladder who never have really benefited from anything, but in fact, have suffered from the misappropriation of Nigeria’s wealth. I think this is pretty interesting, what he’s trying to do, and I’m in full support of it. The devil’s in the detail, of course, but I’m in full support of it,” Sawyerr added.
NELFUND cannot depend on crime proceeds indefinitely
On the long-term financing of the student loan programme, Sawyerr stressed that NELFUND could not depend on proceeds of crime as a permanent funding source.
He explained that the law establishing NELFUND gives the agency several options for raising funds, including charitable donations, private-sector investments and investments by the fund itself in ventures capable of generating income.
“Moving on to the question that was asked earlier about long-term sustainability: the law that set up NELFUND allows us to go out and seek charitable donations, it allows those who want to invest in NELFUND to invest, and it allows NELFUND itself to invest in elements that are going to bring a return and income. What we’re seeing, I believe, today is short-term interventions,” Sawyerr said.
“We’re hoping the proceeds of crime in this country will reduce as the anti-corruption drive goes on in other parts of government, so we can’t possibly rely on proceeds of crime in the long term. But if you look at the law that set this up, it does allow us to source funds from other places,” he added.
Sawyerr said the fund was already receiving significant interest from the private sector because of the potential impact of the student loan programme on employment, crime reduction and Nigeria’s wider socio-economic development.
“And I can tell you today that there’s a lot of interest already from the private sector—from those who recognize how this can impact the economy, how this can impact employment, how this can impact crime, how this can impact banditry and insurgency.
“Those who recognize the benefit to the socio-political growth of Nigeria know that this must be sustainable. It’s about political will from the top, and it’s about participation from the people in the country.
“We all need to keep ourselves safe in this country by ensuring that we can fund this program adequately in the long term,” Sawyerr said.
