ABUJA, Nigeria — Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, has urged Nigerian parents with children in tertiary institutions to verify whether their wards have applied for and received support from the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, saying some beneficiaries may not have informed their families.
Oyedele made the remark during a media briefing in Abuja while responding to a participant who said his three children in school had neither benefited from the scheme nor identified friends who had received the loans.
The minister challenged the parent to first establish whether the students had actually submitted applications for the NELFUND student loan scheme, suggesting that some students could be receiving the support while still collecting money from their parents.
His remark was partly humorous, but it highlighted a more serious issue surrounding public awareness and participation in one of the Federal Government’s major education-financing programmes.
Oyedele said parents whose children have not benefited should verify whether applications were completed rather than concluding that the programme is inaccessible.
Oyedele Challenges Parents on NELFUND Applications
The exchange began after an audience member questioned the reach of the programme.
According to the PUNCH report, the man said he had three children in school who had not received NELFUND support and did not know friends who had benefited.
Oyedele responded by asking whether the parent had confirmed that his children actually applied.
He went further, suggesting that the children might have received money without disclosing it to their father.
The minister then urged the parent to ask for evidence showing whether applications had been submitted.
That distinction is important.
Being enrolled in a Nigerian tertiary institution does not automatically mean that a student receives financing from the NELFUND student loan scheme.
An eligible student must go through the application process and satisfy the applicable requirements.
The official NELFUND platform describes the programme as an initiative intended to remove financial barriers to higher education through interest-free financing.
NELFUND Covers More Than Tuition
One of the most important points made by Oyedele concerns what beneficiaries actually receive.
The programme is not limited to institutional fees.
Oyedele said students benefiting from the NELFUND student loan scheme can also receive monthly upkeep support.
He pointed to videos of beneficiaries celebrating payments and described the interest-free nature of the financing as particularly valuable in an economy experiencing elevated living costs.
This distinction matters for parents.
Where institutional charges are paid directly through the scheme and students separately receive upkeep support, the financial effect on a household can be considerably larger than simply paying school fees.
It could reduce the amount families need to provide for accommodation, transportation, feeding, books and other expenses.
https://ogelenews.ng/nelfund-student-loan-scheme
More Than 1.2 Million Students Benefiting, FG Says
The latest government figures give context to Oyedele’s remarks.
Education Minister Tunji Alausa said on Wednesday that more than 1.2 million Nigerian students were benefiting from NELFUND.
According to Alausa, more than ₦93 billion had been disbursed as stipends to students in public tertiary institutions, while more than ₦250 billion had been disbursed as institutional fees.
Those numbers make the NELFUND student loan scheme one of the country’s largest direct education-financing interventions.
They also explain why the government is increasingly presenting the programme as one of the social interventions accompanying its economic reforms.
The official NELFUND website similarly reports student support across Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
NELFUND Uptake Higher in North, Oyedele Says
Oyedele also made another striking claim during the briefing.
He said participation in the programme has been higher in northern Nigeria than in the South.
The minister attributed the difference partly to attitudes towards government programmes, arguing that scepticism sometimes prevents potential beneficiaries from taking advantage of available support.
TVC News separately reported the minister’s statement that northern students have demonstrated greater willingness to participate in the programme.
This deserves careful treatment.
The statement represents Oyedele’s assessment. It should not automatically be interpreted as evidence that southern students are ineligible or systematically excluded.
The more useful question is why application rates differ geographically and whether information, internet access, institutional participation, awareness or public trust contributes to the disparity.
Parents Should Verify Before Assuming Their Children Were Rejected
This is perhaps the most practical lesson from the minister’s intervention.
There are several different situations that parents should not confuse.
A student may never have applied.
Another may have started but failed to complete an application.
A student may have submitted an application that remains under processing.
Another may have been approved.
And another may already have received upkeep support while institutional fees were processed separately.
The NELFUND student loan scheme therefore cannot be assessed simply by asking whether a student remembers seeing a tuition payment in his or her personal bank account.
Parents and students should check the official application platform and verify the actual status of an application.
The official portal allows students to register and verify their educational and student status as part of the process.
Student, Not Parent, Bears Repayment Responsibility
Another point deserves attention following Oyedele’s comments to parents.
This is a loan programme, not simply free government money.
NELFUND’s official frequently asked questions state that the beneficiary is responsible for repayment.
Its terms also make clear that beneficiaries consent to lawful recovery mechanisms connected with repayment obligations.
That makes transparency within families useful.
A parent may appreciate the immediate reduction in university expenses, but students should understand that receiving financing creates a future repayment obligation under the programme’s terms.
The fact that the financing is interest-free does not transform the principal into a grant.
Government Moves to Strengthen NELFUND Funding
The discussion comes at a significant moment for the future of the programme.
President Bola Tinubu has directed that certain liquid funds recovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission be channelled towards NELFUND.
The Federal Executive Council has also approved the proposed use of unclaimed dividends from the Capital Market Trust Fund and Dormant Account Trust Fund to strengthen the programme’s long-term financing.
Education Minister Alausa stressed that the EFCC component concerns eligible liquid recoveries rather than seized properties, while funds still subject to legal disputes would be excluded.
The move reflects the growing financial obligations associated with the NELFUND student loan scheme as participation expands.
NELFUND Part of Government’s Reform Argument
Oyedele’s comments did not occur at a standalone NELFUND event.
They came during the presentation of the Federal Government’s Nigeria Reform Scorecard, examining the benefits, costs and consequences of economic reforms.
The government said fuel-subsidy removal and foreign-exchange reforms mobilised ₦15.8 trillion in savings for the federation between June 2023 and December 2025. Of that amount, ₦5.4 trillion accrued to the Federal Government and ₦10.4 trillion to states and local governments.
Oyedele cited NELFUND among the interventions the government says have helped households deal with the effects of the reforms.
That context matters because Nigerians have faced substantial cost-of-living pressures following major economic changes.
The government is therefore attempting to demonstrate that programmes such as student loans represent part of the social response to those pressures.
Interest-Free Financing Could Reduce Education Pressure
For many Nigerian families, tertiary education creates substantial financial pressure.
Tuition and institutional charges are only part of the cost.
Students also require accommodation, transportation, food, books, internet access and other essentials.
When several children attend tertiary institutions simultaneously, those expenses can consume a significant portion of household income.
The NELFUND student loan scheme attempts to shift part of that burden from immediate family financing to longer-term student financing.
Its effectiveness, however, will depend on more than the amount disbursed.
Students must be able to access the system without unnecessary administrative obstacles.
Institutions must cooperate.
Payments must arrive when needed.
Records must be accurate.
And repayment mechanisms must remain sustainable.
Accountability Will Become Increasingly Important
As NELFUND grows, accountability becomes more important.
A programme involving hundreds of billions of naira requires reliable systems to establish who received money, how much was paid, which institutions received tuition payments and what repayment obligations exist.
Students should be able to verify their accounts.
Institutions should reconcile payments accurately.
Government should publish sufficiently detailed aggregate information for public scrutiny while protecting beneficiaries’ personal data.
The credibility of the NELFUND student loan scheme will ultimately depend on whether public claims about its scale can be matched by transparent, auditable records.
This becomes even more important as additional funding sources are directed into the programme.
Parents Should Not Treat Oyedele’s Comment Literally in Every Case
The headline requires some editorial caution.
Oyedele did not present evidence that Nigerian students are systematically hiding NELFUND payments from their parents.
His statement arose from a specific exchange with a parent who said his three children had not benefited.
The minister’s suggestion that they might have collected the money without telling him was a pointed response intended to challenge the assumption that the programme was not working.
That distinction should remain clear in the Ogele News version.
The story should not be rewritten to imply that the Federal Government has discovered widespread secret collection of NELFUND loans by students.
No such finding was announced in the reports reviewed.
Ogele News Analysis: The Bigger Story Is Whether Students Know How to Access NELFUND
The original headline, “Your children may be collecting NELFUND without telling you – Oyedele,” is excellent for attracting attention.
But taken alone, it can be misleading.
A reader could reasonably interpret it to mean the government has uncovered evidence that large numbers of students are secretly receiving loans while continuing to collect school fees from their parents.
That is not what happened.
Oyedele was responding to one participant who said his three children had not benefited from the programme. His response was essentially: first establish whether they applied, and do not assume they have not received support without checking.
The bigger public-interest story is the scale to which the NELFUND student loan scheme has grown.
The government says more than 1.2 million students are benefiting, more than ₦93 billion has been disbursed in stipends and more than ₦250 billion has gone towards institutional fees.
Those are substantial figures.
They deserve scrutiny as much as celebration.
How many applications have been approved?
How quickly are payments processed?
Why is uptake reportedly higher in northern Nigeria?
How efficiently are institutions reconciling payments?
What proportion of eligible students remain outside the programme?
And as the first cohorts eventually become liable for repayment, how effective will the recovery system be?
Those questions will ultimately determine whether NELFUND becomes a durable education-financing institution or another government programme that struggles with implementation.
For parents, however, Oyedele’s immediate advice is practical.
Before concluding that your child cannot access NELFUND, establish whether the student actually applied.
And if the application succeeded, it may also be worth asking exactly what was received.
https://portal.nelf.gov.ng/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
