The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has yet to begin recovering loans from beneficiaries, even as it spends about N16 billion monthly on upkeep, according to its Managing Director, Akintunde Sawyerr.
Sawyerr disclosed this in an interview with ARISE NEWS on Monday, adding that the Federal Government was exploring alternative ways to fund the student loan scheme.
He said the scheme, which is over two years old, had not recorded any loan recoveries, raising questions about how it would sustain its growing financial obligations.
“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,” he said.
“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?” Sawyerr added.
He said the President was exploring ways of redirecting idle capital towards education, a cause he described as worthy.
Sawyerr also spoke on the possibility of using recovered proceeds of crime to support education, saying such resources could benefit young Nigerians.
“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.
He clarified that the proposal was not meant to encourage plea bargaining or shield those 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 explained.
He said the goal was to direct recovered funds towards young Nigerians 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 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.
On long-term sustainability, Sawyerr said NELFUND could not depend on proceeds of crime as a permanent source of funding.
He explained that the law establishing the agency allows it to seek charitable donations, attract investments and invest in ventures capable of generating returns.
“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,” he 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 also revealed that NELFUND was already attracting interest from the private sector due to its potential impact on employment and Nigeria’s broader development.
“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,” he said.
He added that sustaining the scheme long-term would require political will and active participation from Nigerians.
Digital Operations Manager at The Students Forum Nigeria.
