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Some university students who have benefitted from the N20,000 stipend paid by the Nigerian Education Loan Fund have begun celebrating following the receipt of the money.
Many took to the social media to express their joy and how the money was spent on foodstuffs.
Financial constraint is a major challenge facing many students of public tertiary institutions in Nigeria.
The lack of funds has kept many young people out of school, as their parents or guardians cannot afford to sponsor their tertiary education.
A total of 20,371 students from six tertiary institutions were said to have been paid a sum of N20,000 each for their July stipends.
The institutions that have benefitted from the disbursement so far are Bayero University, Kano State; Federal University, Dutsin-Ma, Katsina State; University of Ilorin, Kwara State; University of Benin, Edo State; University of Ibadan, Oyo State; and University of Maiduguri, Borno State.
NELFUND started the disbursement of the stipends to the students, whose school fees had already been paid by the agency, on August 5, 2024.
A 300-level student of the Department of Agronomy, University of Ibadan, Emmanuel John, said “I applied for N240,000, to be disbursed as N20,00 monthly. I plan to use it to get foodstuffs monthly, and clear other bills.
“I was excited to get the money, because I initially thought it was going to be one of the several failed promises from the government.
“This will definitely ease the burden on my parents, as I will disturb them less.”
An Accounting student of the University of Maiduguri, Muhammed Buba, said the money came to him as a surprise, adding that he went to the market to get foodstuffs immediately after receiving the money.
He said, “I am not financially buoyant, so I get help from my friends and some other people who support my education.
“I received the money after coming back from school. I had earlier got some money from my parents, but the high cost of living and inflation didn’t allow me to get enough foodstuffs with the money. What I got cannot last me for a month.
“I was thinking of how I would manage the little foodstuffs I had for a month when I received the N20,000 stipend from NELFUND. I was excited and rushed to market to buy more foodstuffs. I spent N15,000 on foodstuffs, and saved N5000 to get some other things I might need.”
An excited student of the University of Maiduguri, Mudassir Muhammad, wrote on his X handle, “I don’t know why Nigerians still think that NELFUND is lying about the disbursement to certain institutions. I am from UNIMAID. I applied and received the money two days ago.”
