The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has disclosed plans to develop a centralised job portal to give beneficiaries early access to employment opportunities in Nigeria and abroad.

Managing Director, NELFUND, Akintunde Sawyerr who gave the hint during a media engagement series in Abuja on Thursday to mark one year since the scheme’s launch, however, said this was not to guarantee beneficiaries automatic employment.

He explained that the portal would aggregate listings from the public and private sectors, as well as international employers interested in recruiting Nigerians.

“We don’t just give a loan and leave students on their own. This job portal is our way of supporting their journey toward economic stability,” he said.

He emphasised that students would only begin repayment after securing employment, stressing that this would begin after their National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).

“If you don’t have a job, you don’t pay. And when you eventually get a job, your repayment starts fresh.

“Once employed, 10 per cent of the beneficiary’s monthly income is deducted automatically by the employer and remitted to NELFUND, following verification through the NELFUND employment register.

“If an employee is laid off or resigns, the deductions stop. And in the event of death, the loan is written off. The family is not harassed,” Sawyerr added.

Speaking on non-refund of fees to students who had paid before NELFUND disbursed to their institutions, the managing director appealed to institutions to return the fees to students.

According to him, schools have a moral and professional duty to return these funds to students.

“We’ve received multiple petitions from students who paid under duress only to find their fees had also been paid by NELFUND.

“Institutions must refund this money. It’s disappointing that some schools have ignored this responsibility,” he said.

He noted that investigative bodies like the ICPC and EFCC have stepped in to question certain institutions over delays or refusals to refund.

“If an institution cannot refund directly to the student, they can pay the money back to us and we will ensure it gets to the rightful student,” sawyerr stated.

Speaking on the agency’s projection in the coming years, the Executive Director, Operations, NELFUND, Mustapha Iyal, said the Fund is currently managing over 3.2 million student records in its system.

Iyal, however, said the Fund is projecting one million new applications by the end of 2025.

While he said the figure was not compulsory, adding that the Fund aimed to ensure no student drops out due to financial hardship.

“Basically, our projection right now, we have about 3.2 million data students in our system.

“What we’re looking at this year, from now to the end of the year, we’re looking at about 1 million applications. We’re not pushing. We’re not saying that it’s compulsory.

“But we’re looking at how can we support 1 million applications to make sure that no one is dropping out of school,” he said.