The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) says it is set to expand its student loan scheme to cover vocational and skills acquisition programmes across the country.
The Managing Director of NELFUND, Mr. Akintunde Sawyerr, disclosed this on Sunday in Abuja in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
Sawyerr said the initiative aligns with the Federal Government’s broader agenda to strengthen education and skills development, adding that it reflects President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to inclusive human capital growth beyond conventional tertiary education.
According to him, the country’s development requires a balanced blend of academic knowledge and technical competence.
“No nation is built solely by philosophers,” he said. “It is very important to have people who can use their hands, energy, strength and skills to put into action the clever ideas that come from those emerging from academic institutions.”
Sawyerr explained that although NELFUND currently supports students in tertiary institutions, plans were underway to extend financial assistance to Nigerians enrolled in vocational and technical programmes.
He said the Federal Government had prioritised skills development across multiple ministries, noting that the Ministries of Youth Development, Education, and Digital Economy were all implementing various skill-based initiatives.
“At NELFUND, we have a mandate to also do vocational skills. We have not started yet, but I know that the President Bola Tinubu administration has ensured that there is full coverage around the skills issue,” he said.
Sawyerr stressed that Nigeria must transition into what he described as the “design, build and operate” phase of development, where both academic and practical skills work hand in hand.
He said an engineer who could build was more valuable to national development than one who could only design, noting that the coming expansion would create more opportunities for young people seeking non-traditional career paths.
