The management of Bayero University, Kano, on Monday, approved a two-week extension for the registration of undergraduate students for the 2023/2024 academic session.
The Deputy Registrar of the Public Affairs of the university, Lamara Garba, said the institution’s management considered the extension to reconcile remittances from the National Students’ Loans Fund for students who had secured loans.
The NELFUND, in a statement on Friday, through its official X handle, announced that it had allocated a total of N2.5bn to various institutions across the country as institutional fees for students who successfully applied for tuition loans.
The spokesperson of NELFUND, Nasir Ayitogo, said the student loan would benefit 22,120 students across many institutions in the country.
On Monday, BUK confirmed that it allowed the extension of the registration process for the academic session to reconcile the remittances for the beneficiary students.
Garba also said another reason for the extension of the registration period was in response to the recent nationwide protests which disrupted free movement and internet connectivity across the country.
“The extension followed the nationwide protest which had affected free movements and other restrictions, such as poor Internet connectivity.
“In addition, the management was making efforts to reconcile the remittances from the National Students’ Loan Fund for the students that secured the loan.
“Accordingly, the registration exercise will now be closed on Sunday, August 19, 2024. Students are advised to ensure they complete the registration within the stipulated time,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, NELFUND said on Monday that it had successfully disbursed N20,000 monthly stipends for the month of July to 20,371 students from six tertiary institutions.
A statement released by the Fund in Abuja listed the institutions as follows: Bayero University Kano; Federal University, Dutsin-Ma; University of Ilorin; University of Benin; University of Ibadan and the University of Maiduguri.
The statement signed by the Director, Finance of NELFUND, Ibom Uche, said the Fund was working towards the commencement of the payment process for students from approximately “55 additional tertiary institutions.”
“It is anticipated that this will be concluded within the next two weeks as the fund is committed to ensuring that all eligible students receive their stipends promptly.”
The statement further noted that the President, Bola Tinubu on Sunday further committed the sum of N50bn to the student loan cause.
“It is noteworthy that the President only Sunday committed a further N50bn from recovered proceeds of crime.”
The implementation of the student loan scheme is President Bola Tinubu’s flagship project in the education sector..
While addressing the nation on Sunday regarding the ongoing hunger protest, Tinubu assured Nigerians that “Our administration has shown its commitment to the youth by setting up the student loan scheme. To date, N45.6bn has already been processed for payment to students and their respective institutions.”
Some applicants interviewed on Monday by our correspondent said they were still awaiting disbursement.
A 200-level student of Botany at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Adekeye Hassan, said he applied for the loan in May and till now it had not been paid.
“I applied in May after my father sent me the link to the application site for my brother and me to apply. I filled out the form and requested N141,000 for school fees for a session and N20,000 for upkeep. In July, I received an email that my loan had been approved, but I have not received any alert for the upkeep or a message from my school confirming the payment of my school fees.
“We are resuming in November, and I will check with the DSA. There are three of us in university,” he said.
Another 200-level student at OAU, Rahman, said most of his coursemates did not apply for the student loan because they did not believe in it.
“Yeah, I applied for the student loan, and so did my brother. After the application, the status showed as pending. Two weeks later, mine was approved, but my brother’s is still pending.
However, I haven’t received any form of payment yet.
“Most of my coursemates didn’t apply for it, as they believed it to be a Ponzi scheme. I decided to try it out myself. My elder brother hasn’t received his loan approval yet, and most of my coursemates who applied on the same day I did haven’t received approval either. I can’t say for sure if it’s true or not until it happens to me, but I believe the approvals were selected at random.”
Ezra Nwafor of Alex Ekwueme Federal University in Ebonyi State said he applied in July, and it was approved within 14 days, but he hadn’t received anything yet.
He said N77,000 was approved for his fees and a monthly upkeep of N20,000.
Nwafor added, “I am in 400L, studying Biochemistry. We’re already in the second semester, and I haven’t even registered for first-semester courses. Soon, we’ll start registering for the second semester. If they don’t pay the fees, I may have to borrow to pay them. However, they may still send the money to the school later and expect me to repay it. I just don’t understand the programme yet.
“The application process is easy if your credentials are ready, but I guess it’s for people who owe school fees. The person who gave me the link still has his application pending. The only problem is that they’re taking too long to disburse the funds. We’ve resumed, and we’re already in the fourth week of resumption, which is why I’m worried about the whole situation.
“I think they should have clear criteria for applying so that people can understand why their applications are not approved. Secondly, they should work with the school calendar. You can’t keep someone who’s already in the second semester waiting while paying for someone who just resumed the session. Also, they should consider paying directly to the student’s account in case the student finds another means to pay, so they don’t end up paying twice and then have to repay the loan.”
Also speaking, a student of the University of Ibadan, Taofeek Anuoluwapo, said, “I applied in June after getting the link from a friend. I was asked to upload my JAMB admission letter, school ID card, NIN, BVN, and other documents.
“It’s been a month, which is the expected duration for processing, but I haven’t seen anyone who has received the loan yet.
“I believe this scheme is a good idea; it will help underprivileged students like me pay our school fees. It’s a good initiative. The Federal Government should follow through and ensure the approved loans are disbursed as expected.”
However, Senate President, National Association of Nigerian Students, Afeez Babatunde, said he had reports of Ahmadu Bello University having collected a sum of N689m loans.
“We verified that some students in Ahmadu Bello University got the loan because about N689m was given to the school during the launching. The students who got it received it as school fees paid directly to the school.
“We will also monitor this new one that they announced today.
“We have not seen students complaining that they have not got, especially those that have applied. If there was an outcry that they had not got, we would have followed up. The loan is progressive because they give us updates periodically, they have also added more schools too,” he said.
