Nigeria’s Student Loan Scheme Will Alleviate Depression, Reduce Crime, Says Dr. Akintunde Sawyer

Abuja, Nigeria – Dr Akintunde Sawyer, Executive Secretary, Nigeria Education Loan Scheme, NELFund, has said that the loan scheme would take depression off many homes and criminals off the streets of Nigeria.

Mr Sawyer said this during a courtesy visit to the News Agency of Nigeria Headquarters in Abuja.

He said that the loan scheme would also give people hope to be able to compete, not just within Nigeria, but globally.

“It will help Nigeria as a country to increase its capacity, knowledge and the ability to get things done and really put us in a position where, as an economy, we will be able to compete globally.

“Recently, there has been a clamour for Nigeria to be a knowledge-based economy and this loan scheme is about knowledge, so it will do just that.

“We cannot all be trading or carrying bags of cement on our heads and thinking we are competing in a world where it is knowledge most advanced countries are selling, not commodities.’’

Mr Sawyer said that students, who benefit from the loan scheme, would be expected to pay when they get jobs after school.

He said that there would be no restriction whatsoever, for people who took the loan.

“If people want to travel after graduation, they are free to do so. However, we have the register of those who have taken loans, so, in the future, some of them may want to borrow money from a commercial bank to buy a car, to build a house or to do something.

“Clearly, if you haven’t paid back the loan that you borrowed many years ago, it may be difficult for you to access new loans,’’ he said.

He called on those that would benefit from the loan scheme to be diligent enough to pay adding “if you take a loan and you don’t pay back, it means that somebody else who is trying to access education will not be able to.

“You got your own education, allow other people to get theirs,’’ he said

Mr Sawyer said that the organiation would continue to look at mechanisms and learn from other countries like Malaysia, Kenya, South Africa, Rwanda and others who are practicing the scheme to perfect it.

“We will look at the mistakes they have made. We will look at the things that they have done that have worked well and we will imbibe the best at the moment.

“We are thankful to the president of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu, for signing this very important Act into law because it opened up the opportunity for millions and millions of future leaders.

“It will help them to be better leaders because they will have better knowledge,’’ he said.