Abbanobi – Eku Onyekachi
Abuja
South East caucus of the National Assembly said its attention has been drawn to the absence of beneficiaries from South East (SE) tertiary institutions in the list of beneficiaries of the students’ loan being disbursed on behalf of the Federal Government (FG) by the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), according to a statement signed by their leaders, Sen. Enyinnaya Abaribe and Hon. Igariwey Iduma Enwo on Sunday.
According to the statement, with a total of N2,946,927,155 already disbursed to 27,667 from 19 institutions in the country, SE higher institutions were conspicuously missing from the list. In its defence, the statement went on, NELFUND has stated that the absence of beneficiaries from SE 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.
Consequently, the SE caucus of the National Assembly, wishes to urge tertiary institutions in the South East to comply with the verification request by NELFUND, so that their children can benefit from the national programme, adding: “We also wish to encourage all South East students who need this support to ensure they apply. 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.
“It is important that as a people, we do not intentionally marginalize ourselves from opportunities which are open to all Nigerians. Those opportunities are our rights and we must, like others, demand for what rightfully belongs to us.
