The Bayelsa State office of the National Orientation Agency (NOA) has called on the Federal Government to review the guidelines governing the student loan scheme, with a view to expanding access to more students and higher institutions across the country.
The appeal followed a field assessment of the loan initiative’s implementation at the Niger Delta University (NDU), Wilberforce Island, Amasoma.
According to the agency, its review team engaged various stakeholders at the institution — including academic and non-academic staff — through interviews and informal discussions. The exercise, it said, aimed to assess the effectiveness of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), which administers the scheme.
Findings from the assessment revealed that although the application process was largely transparent, challenges emerged during disbursement. In several cases, the full tuition fees of beneficiaries were not remitted to the university as expected.
However, the agency noted that no evidence of malpractice was found. There were no signs of document falsification, collusion, bribery, or bias based on ethnicity or religion in the selection of beneficiaries.
While commending the initiative as a step in the right direction for improving access to tertiary education, the NOA maintained that key aspects of the scheme require urgent reform to close existing gaps.
The agency urged the federal government to address these issues promptly to ensure the scheme meets its intended goal of easing financial burdens for Nigerian students.
