Nigerian Education Loan Fund, NELFUND, has raised concern over the low application for its loan at the Rivers State University.
Managing Director of the fund, Mr Akintunde Sawyerr raised the concern during a strategic engagement and sensitisation campaign on the operations of the fund yesterday in Port Harcourt.
Represented by the Director of Administration, Dr Zino Ugboma, Sawyerr said 1,500 applicants out of a nearly 40,000 student capacity is troubling.
He said the visit was to strengthen ties with the university to improve on the troubling statistics related to students participation in their programmes.
According to Sawyer, the statistics showed low registration rate, with 3,000 applications from the University of Port Harcourt and 1,500 from the state university
“Going through our records, we discovered something that is not too pleasant in relation to your university and we are here to have a talk with the management.
“We want to know what the problem is because the money is there and it is meant to be disbursed to these young people. Let us work together to solve this,” he said.
Responding, the Vice Chancellor of the university, Professor Isaac Zeb-Obipi acknowledged the troubling gap and pledged to address the issue.
Represented by the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Administration, Professor Victor Akujuru, Zeb-Obipi said the meeting marked a critical point in the relationship between the two institutions.
He promised that both organisations would work collaboratively in the coming weeks to address the concerns raised.
On his part, the university’s Director of ICT, Professor Sunny Orike said the application process involved multiple steps which many students failed to follow through.
He assured that the unit would work with the students to address the challenge and bridge the gap.
The President, Student Union Government, SUG, of the institution, Rizi Owabie reaffirmed the union’s support for the government-backed funding programme.
In raising awareness among students, Owabie said information had been disseminated both formally and informally.
He assured that the union would intensify sensitisation campaign on the importance of the loan. (NAN)
