Atiku’s Plan to Scrap NELFUND Misguided, Says Ex-Jonathan Aide

A former presidential aide to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Jude Imagwe, has criticised the reported proposal by the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, to scrap the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), arguing that the focus should instead be on creating opportunities that would enable beneficiaries to repay their loans.

Imagwe, who spoke on AIT’s Political Platform programme, said the student loan policy should not be discarded simply because it was introduced under the current administration.

According to him, Nigeria had enough time to develop alternative proposals, noting that student loan schemes are common in several countries across the world.

“There is no educationally practising country in the world that does not have some form of student loan scheme. The UK has its own student loan scheme, Australia has its own, Canada has its own, China has its own, and even countries close to us such as Ghana, Kenya and South Africa have theirs,” he said.

Imagwe argued that the major challenge with student loans was not the provision of the loans but the ability of graduates to repay them after completing their education.

“What should have been critically thought through is this: if we give these young people loans to go to school, what industries are we building? What openings for employment are we creating? What system are we preparing so that these students who have collected loans from the government can be absorbed and begin to pay back?” he said.

He explained that repayment would become difficult if graduates completed their education without access to employment, business opportunities or other means of earning an income.

“If you give a child a loan and there is no system for that child to come back from school and get employed, get engaged or have opportunities to start a business, repayment becomes difficult,” Imagwe added.

The former presidential aide said no student would deliberately refuse to access a loan that could reduce the financial burden on their parents and help them complete their education.

He maintained that if he were contesting for the presidency, he would retain the NELFUND scheme but focus on strengthening institutions, the labour market and employment opportunities for young Nigerians.

“I quite appreciate the loan that has been set up by the present administration called NELFUND. What I will do differently is to begin to look at established organisations and strengthen institutions,” he said.

Imagwe also called for data and statistics on beneficiaries of the scheme, stressing that the government must put structures in place to ensure that graduates who access the loans can secure jobs or establish businesses.

He said strengthening government institutions, improving the labour market and creating an enabling environment for young graduates would help address the challenge of repayment.

“The loan is not the problem; how you pay the loan is usually the problem,” he said.