NELFUND and the Challenge of Student Financing in Nigeria

The article discusses the controversial suggestion by Mrs. Oluremi Tinubu that beneficiaries of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) should engage in petty trading to support themselves during their studies. This remark highlights the irony that Nigerian students, in a resource-rich country, are encouraged to borrow for education while also needing to supplement their income through small businesses.

NELFUND was established under the Student Loans (Access to Higher Education) Act, 2024, to address the significant financing gap in higher education in Nigeria, which has faced years of inadequate public funding and rising costs. The article raises the question of whether a student loan scheme should be the primary solution to an affordability crisis stemming from insufficient public investment in education.

It also reflects on Nigeria's oil wealth, which began with the discovery of crude oil in Oloibiri, Bayelsa State, in 1958, and how this wealth contrasts with the educational outcomes in the country.