The Nigerian Education Loan Fund has disbursed more than N242 billion in tuition and upkeep support to over 1.38 million students enrolled in tertiary institutions across Nigeria since its launch, with the Forum of Governing Council Members of Nigerian Tertiary Institutions describing the programme as one of the most significant achievements of the Tinubu administration in higher education and calling for an extension of the repayment window and an increase in monthly upkeep allowances.
FOGOCOM Chairman Akin-Thomas Babajide, addressing a press conference in Abuja, said the student loan scheme had reduced financial barriers to higher education and enabled thousands of students who might otherwise have dropped out due to inability to pay fees to remain enrolled and complete their studies. He said the program currently covered hundreds of tertiary institutions nationwide and extended beyond tuition to include upkeep allowances for eligible students.
He also highlighted the deployment of N110 billion through the TETFund High Impact Intervention Project to rehabilitate and modernize medical schools across 18 federal and state universities, with N70 billion earmarked specifically for physical rehabilitation of facilities, describing it as a direct response to the country’s deficit of over 300,000 doctors. He said 24 federal tertiary institutions had transitioned their main campus operations to solar hybrid power grids under the Energizing Education Project, with 8 more universities signed up for the fourth phase. The forum appealed to the federal government to extend Governing Council tenure for polytechnics and colleges of education from three to four years, arguing that longer tenures would provide the stability needed to see reforms and institutional development projects through to completion rather than lea
