“Those opportunities are our right and we must, like others, demand for what rightfully belongs to us.”
Igbo senators and members of the house of representatives have condemned the reported marginalisation of students from the south-east geopolitical zone by the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).
The lawmakers spoke under the auspices of the south-east caucus in a statement issued on Sunday, jointly signed by Sen. Enyinnaya Abaribe (APGA, Abia South) and Rep. Igariwey Iduma Enwo (PDP, Ebonyi).
While condemning the marginalisation, the lawmakers however urged tertiary institutions in the zone to comply with NELFUND‘s verification request that qualifies for disvursement to students from the zone.
OrderPaper recalls that the Federal Government, through NELFUND, announced last week that N2.9 billion had been disbursed to 27, 667 students as the first set of beneficiaries of the loan scheme across 19 tertiary institutions in the country. The list reportedly excluded potential beneficiaries from the country’s Igbo-speaking region.
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The statement from the lawmakers reads in part: “The attention of the south-east caucus of the national assembly has been drawn to the glaring absence of beneficiaries from south east tertiary institutions in the list of beneficiaries of the students’ loan being disbursed on behalf of the Federal Government by the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).
“With a total of N2,946,927,155 already disbursed to 27,667 from 19 institutions in the country, south-east higher institutions were conspicuously missing from the list.
“In its defence, NELFUND has stated that the absence of beneficiaries from south-east institutions was because even though verification lists have been sent to all schools, south-east institutions are yet to respond to their request for the verification of the lists sent to them.”
