The Vice Chancellor of Anchor University, Ayobo, Lagos, Professor Samuel Oye Bandele, has criticised the exclusion of students of private tertiary institutions from accessing the Federal Government’s Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), describing the policy as a disservice to the country.
While commending the Federal Government for introducing the loan scheme, Bandele said the initiative ranks among the most impactful interventions for Nigerian undergraduates in recent times. However, he described the decision to deny private university students access to the fund as unfair and counterproductive.
According to him, the NELFUND scheme has brought significant relief to parents who previously struggled to finance their children’s university education. He added that the initiative has also renewed hope for indigent students aspiring to acquire higher education and appealed for the programme to be sustained by successive administrations.
Bandele argued that students of private institutions, like their counterparts in public universities, are Nigerians who deserve government support. He noted that parents of students in private institutions pay taxes and contribute to national development in various sectors, making it unjust to exclude their children from benefiting from government-backed programmes such as the interest-free education loans.
He clarified that he was not calling on the government to construct infrastructure for private institutions, a responsibility he said rests with their proprietors. Instead, he urged the government to support private universities through research funding, scholarship opportunities, and by extending the NELFUND loan scheme to their students.
The former Vice Chancellor of Ekiti State University also expressed satisfaction with Anchor University’s growing visibility both locally and internationally, attributing it to the institution’s quality service delivery and academic standards.
He reaffirmed the university’s commitment to producing globally competitive graduates, advancing cutting-edge research, and contributing meaningfully to community development.
