By Felix Khanoba
The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has announced plans to roll out its vocational loan initiative across the country within the next six to eight weeks, with Enugu State set to serve as one of the launch points.
According to NELFUND’s Managing Director, Mr. Akintunde Sawyerr, the programme aims to provide financial support for individuals seeking technical and vocational training in fields such as fashion design, among others.
Speaking during a sensitisation campaign in Enugu, Sawyerr emphasised the readiness of Enugu State to collaborate with the fund, noting that it would be one of the first locations for the pilot phase.
“We are working on it now, and we’re going to have some discussions with the executive governor and his team, because we want to start it here.The president has also instructed that we focus on areas where the governments or the institutions of state and instrument are ready to work with us, so that we can have quick takeoff. I think that within the next six to eight weeks, you will see us kick something off,” he said.
During a visit to the Enugu Garments and Fashion Hub, NELFUND’s Executive Director of Operations, Mr. Iyal Mustapha, praised the state’s preparedness, pointing out that among more than 10 states assessed, Enugu stood out.
“Presently we have other states, almost more than 10 states that we have seen such but then, Enugu is one of the best,” he said.
“Enugu is going to be one of the first states or one of the first locations we are looking at to start. With what I see, there is a lot of positivity.We have seen different skill centers from the technical colleges to the vocational skill centers like the fashion design and they are all very positive for us at NELFUND. I would not say that Enugu will be the only state but one of the first states to start with.”
Mustapha further explained that much like its student loan programme, NELFUND would soon open its portal to applicants seeking to undergo vocational training. The scheme will not only cover the cost of training but also offer living stipends and provide essential tools after graduation.
“We are going to have these centers in place to say if you apply from Enugu this is where to go in Enugu. We are going to pay for their training costs, we are going to be giving them upkeep and at the end of the day, they will have some working tools when they finish their training.”
Regarding the upkeep allowance, Mustapha noted that details were still being finalised.
“We are still trying to complete that into our guideline. The training costs is based on what the centre is proposing, that’s what we are paying but the institutional charges is going to be part of the loan because it’s to support them with the transport coming to these skill centres.It’s a work in progress and the country is always evolving. The government is seeing the value in skills and vocation just to support the community.”
The Enugu State Government also reaffirmed its dedication to equipping its youth with employable skills. Arinze Chilo-Offiah, Special Advisor to the Governor on Digital Economy and MSMEs, highlighted several state-led initiatives aimed at enhancing workforce readiness, including the upgraded Government Technical College (GTC), ICT centres, and the Fashion and Garment Hub.
“We just wanted to show them the world class facilities we have here to let NELFUND know that we are ready to key into the skills acquisition component of the fund.One component is to take care of school fees and upkeep of tertiary institution students, the other aspect is vocational skills. We just came from the Government Technical College (GTC) revamped world class facilities there, we are also showing them our fashion hub.As you can see, Enugu is ready to absorb all the support from NELFUND. They will be able to provide us with zero interest loans for training in fashion.”
On the facility’s capacity, he added:”We have about 150 industrial sewing machines here, we have world class monogramming machines. We can seat at any given point in time 300 plus or closer to 500.”
As part of the sensitisation tour, the NELFUND delegation also visited the Institute of Management and Technology (IMT), Enugu College of Education Technical, and the under-renovation Government Technical College (GTC).
