The managing director, Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), Akintunde Sawyerr, has assured that the repayment process for the student loan scheme has been designed to be seamless, transparent and fair to all beneficiaries.

Mr Sawyerr, who spoke with journalists in Abuja, explained that graduates are granted a two-year grace period after completing their National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme, before repayment begins in the third year.

He stated that repayment responsibility primarily rests on employers of graduates who benefited from the scheme.

“There is a requirement for people to start paying back the loan. But that requirement is placed upon the employers – the people who employed beneficiaries of the loan.

“The requirement from them is that they pay 10 per cent of that person’s income monthly to the Fund,” he said.

According to him, the remittance would be made monthly, even if the employee is paid weekly or bi-weekly, to ensure a smooth and consistent repayment process.

“We do not have any intention of forcing people to pay NELFUND back, other than the employers.

“If employers engage people with NELFUND loans and they don’t pay us their 10 per cent back monthly, we can go after the employers,” he said.

However, Mr Sawyerr said self-employed beneficiaries are expected to make their own 10 per cent deductions and pay directly to NELFUND.

He also disclosed that the Fund had in place a Global Standing Instruction (GSI) system to recover funds from defaulters who attempt to evade repayment, if they have money in their bank accounts.

“People sign up for this when they take the loan. We’re not ashamed about it.

“It is important that we protect government’s money, in order to get some money back for their younger brothers and sisters that are coming up the line. We have to keep the programme sustainable,” he said.

Addressing concerns that the loan scheme might restrict beneficiaries’ freedom to travel abroad, Mr Sawyerr clarified that NELFUND loans do not impose any form of travel ban or control on recipients.

“The fact that you take a loan from us does not mean you are a slave to the government or to  NELFUND.

“You took a loan to get education for yourself. You cannot be enslaved.
“People can travel wherever they want to go at any time. Their names are not at the airports or at the land borders.

“The bottom line is that there is an expectation that, if your country does something for you, you should pay it back because there are other people who need it as well.

‘So, people can travel. They can do whatever they need to do,” he clarified.

He, however, appealed to beneficiaries abroad to fulfil their repayment obligations once they begin to earn income, emphasising that the initiative is a social investment, not a profit-making venture.

“The idea of this is to have social impact. We are not trying to make a profit. Government is not trying to exploit people.

”The president wants people to get educated so that we can have a more peaceful country, a more prosperous country.

“That is the whole idea of this,” he explained.

Highlighting the long-term vision of the Fund, he described NELFUND’s legacy as a transformative programme designed to give hope and opportunities to young Nigerians who otherwise could not afford higher education.

(NAN)