The break down of the disbursement made public is as follows:
Total Amount Disbursed: 809,325,700
Students covered: 4,649
THE MAIN CONCERN
The fear of not working within the specified policy framework.
The outrageous number of the benefitting students should be a major concern to the officials and the government, considering the well spelt out category of students who should be considered - students from poor or indigent families who are unable to afford tertiary education, not those who can afford but decide to beat the system in order to benefit from the usual Nigerian mentality of regarding the programme as government largesse, without intention of paying back.
Question arising:
What is the yardstick for determining beneficiaries?
If this modality is not set, unreasonable or outrageous number of students will indicate interest, including those who can afford tertiary education in the country.
THE PROBLEM OF DATA IN NIGERIA
Because of the poor attitude of citizens towards government's programmes or public policy, citizens who are fond of expressing the no-man's business, reckless, non-challant, and indiscriminate attitude, will stop at nothing in ensuring the programme is not implemented as specified, because they see public policy as something that is meant to be taken advantage of, not something that should be protected or well guarded for the general interest of the public. Therefore, if the parameters for selection of eligible beneficiaries are not well specified and strictly followed to the letters, it will definitely record outrageous number of beneficiaries (including high number of those who can afford tertiary education). That will be a big question to data credibility, in terms of the rate of poverty in the country. Therefore, if the programme lacks monitoring mechanism in selecting appropriate beneficiaries, conflict of data is bound to occur. This has been the general problem in the country, and for such to be arrested and addressed on time, government will have to interven effectively, so that the goal of the programme will not be defeated, and the country will not churn out skewed data. If this is acted as recommended, the image of the country in the global community will be salvaged.
REPAYMENT PLAN
Repayment plan is part and parcel of the sustainability plans, so that it will go round for more or new beneficiaries to have their turns. As usual, the Nigerian mentality is what should be fought tooth and nail, for the success of the programme, typical Nigerians see public policy as something that is meant to be taken advantage of, not something that should be protected or well guarded for the general interest of the public.
The NELFUND repayment plan has been well specified by the administrators of the programme, it has also began to record graduate beneficiaries who will soon throng the labour market. The big question that continues to stare us in the face is, do Nigerians truly ready to change their attitudes towards government's programmes like this? Are the beneficiaries willing and ready to comply strictly with the repayment plan after graduation? Not having intention of beating the system, because it amounts to shooting themselves in the leg. That is the concerned issue that should be addressed if sustainable, reliable and rewarding system must be built - no two ways about it.
SUSTAINABILITY PLAN
Will the programme ends with the administration of the incumbent president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, that originated it? We cannot forget so soon other projects like this from the previous administrations. The Nigerian Youth Investment Fund, otherwise known as the youth investment bank, N-Power, etc. cannot be overlooked when situating the problem of lack of continuity of government's programmes. It is now like a norm for leaders to come in with their fresh plans, jettisons the plans of their predecessor, while the ones he brought in will be discontinued or jettisoned by his successor. And it goes on and on and on. When shall we learn lesson that government is continum.
To this end, the need arises for strengthening plans to sustain the programme, so that it will not be discontinued like others. Regardless of the cons or disadvantages, establishment of Bank of Education (BOE) is needful, to be able to coordinate and steer the programme successfully. If there are existing specialized banks such as Bank of Industry (BOI), Bank of Agriculture (BOA), Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM), Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN), etc. why not Bank of Education (BOE) too, considering its central role in the society: being the bedrock of development.
