The Nigerian Education Loan Fund said it received over 745,000 applications for its interest-free student loan scheme, with 2,700 of the requests submitted in the last 24 hours.

Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of NELFUND, Akintunde Sawyerr, disclosed this at the two-day Renewed Hope Student Leaders’ Engagement, organised by the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Students’ Engagement in partnership with the Rivers State Government, held at the University of Port Harcourt on Friday.

He said, “So far, we have over 745,000 Nigerians who have applied for this loan. Out of this number, we have over 400,000 students who are benefiting from this loan.

“They have their school fees paid at the tertiary level, and some of them who have applied for upkeep are receiving N20,000 per month, per session.

“So far, we have disbursed over N80 billion to Nigerian institutions and Nigerians who are benefiting from the loan.

“We are receiving applications. In the last 24 hours, we had 2,700 applications. We are processing them.”

Sawyerr further said the law establishing NELFUND was recently repealed and re-enacted to allow funding from non-governmental sources.

 “In other words, people who want to contribute to the fund from outside government, whether they are philanthropists, general donors, NGOs, people with special interest in education, they can bring their money into that fund for it to be dedicated to the provision of loans or even grants, if they want, to the students,” he explained.

The NELFUND boss noted that the scheme offers two categories of loans — institutional loans to cover tuition and upkeep loans to support living expenses, saying both are interest-free, with repayment starting two years after completion of the National Youth Service Corps programme.

“If the payment is not complete and you lose your job the payment stops,” Sawyerr said, adding that employers have a statutory duty to deduct 10% from beneficiaries’ salaries once repayment begins.

“The only exception is that if you have your own business and you are paying yourself a salary, you are obliged to put the business or company that you set up to make those payments back to NELFUND,” he added.

In his remarks, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Students’ Engagement, Asefon Dayo, said the event was a platform to bridge the gap between the government and students.

“Our mission is clear: to engage student leaders meaningfully, inform them about the far-reaching reforms of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in education and youth development, and hear from them directly,” Dayo said.

He further said NELFUND has significantly reduced the rate of dropouts in tertiary institutions and announced that the President had approved funding for 15 colleges of education, polytechnics, and universities to establish innovation hubs and entrepreneurship centres, including robotics, artificial intelligence, 3D printing, and electronics labs.

Punch

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The Personal Assistant to the popular caterer in Ondo state and a Chief Executive Officer, CEO, Mrs Debbie Olakunbi Adene, has reportedly confessed why he and the victim’s driver, connived to kill her a few days after her birthday.
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Police sources said that the duo wanted the money that was sprayed on her during her birthday celebrations
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The PA, whose name was withheld was reportedly arrested by police detectives a few weeks after the victim was gruesomely murdered in her house located at Oda Road, in the Akure metropolis
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Late Olakunbi was murdered after she celebrated her 54th birthday.
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Her lifeless body was discovered on her bed by her neighbors who later informed the caretaker of the house.
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The mother of two, was said to have entertained visitors at her residence and served assorted wine and drinks and thereafter posted many of her pictures on social media.
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Recall that the husband, Dele Adene, had expressed concern over the delay in the arrest of the killer of his wife.
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Adene, said recently in an interview that ”I was told that my wife’s corpse was found on her bed in a pool of blood which showed she was hacked to death.
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“I cannot believe that no arrests have been made up till the moment of talking to you. I feel suspects should have been arrested.
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“Her phone should be tracked and I don’t know how dwellers in the building did not know such thing happened in a house with four flats apartment.
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But speaking with Vanguard, a police detective, said that the deceased Personal Assistant has confessed to the crime and is also providing the police with useful information about the circumstances surrounding the killing.
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It was also gathered that the late caterer’s driver, who is on the run, provided the weapon used to hack her to death.
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Efforts to contact the state police image maker, Funmi Odunlami, proved abortive as she failed to pick up her calls.
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But a police officer confirmed that one suspect has been arrested in respect of the murder of the victim
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Vanguard Newspaper

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The Management of AfiaTV has pledged collaboration with the Department of Mass Communication, ESUT.

Chairman and chief executive officer of AfiaTV Mr Emeka Mbah made the pledge when the members of ESUT Monitor Newspaper Editorial Team paid him a courtesy visit in his office on Monday.

Led by the Head of Department, Dr Chidiebere Ezinwa, Mr Mbah expressed delight over the visit and described it as an honour.

Mr Mbah who graduated from the department over 30 years ago, stated that he will collaborate with Mass Communication in areas of mentorship, capacity building through workshop, training of the students as interns s in his office, accommodating the students fir excursion, the among others.

Earlier in his speech, Dr Ezinwa told the Chairman that the team was in his office as part of the department’s move to reach out to its alumni, adding that AfiaTV has afforded them the opportunity to deepen the engagement.

He commended the management of the station for the warm reception adding that the collaboration will further strengthen the department’s resolve in ensuring that students are well trained to face the larger society after graduation.

Highlights of the visit were presentation of a copy of ESUT Monitor Newspaper to the chairman who also took the team round the company including the TV and radio stations.

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The chief executive officer, Afia TV, Mr Emeka Mbah on Thursday paid tribute to his Alma mater, the Enugu State University of Science and Technology, ESUT for giving him a quality background which has contributed to his success in the media industry.

Speaking to ESUT Monitor at the Eastern Nigeria International Film Festival (ENIFF) on Thursday, Mbah said he’s product of ESUT and graduated from the Department of Mass Communication 33 years ago.

“ESUT is a foundation for me because it gave me an opportunity to learn and to build a career at that time in the 80s. I had some of the fantastic teachers and mentors. Obviously at that time ESBS was thriving, Daily Star – the State newspaper – was doing quite well. It gave us the opportunity to interact and learn from editors and producers at ESBS then. In all, I’m still grateful for the opportunity to have been a student and graduated from that institution, I’m proud to be an Esutite,” Mbah said.

He also disclosed his intentions and what informed his decision to situate the TV station in Enugu. “I think that South East is not well represented in the Nigerian Media Space, especially in the digital platforms and the traditional linear media. So my motivation was how do we begin to tell stories that come from the South East, about the South East and for us” he added.

the former Director-General of the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) noted that in order to sustain and promote the South-East cultural heritage, the young people must be carried along, hence his decision for hiring majority of young people in his media outlet.

“Working with young people is very strategic for us in Afia, because we’re looking at not today, but tomorrow. I believe the future is for the young people. If I’m talking about the future, should I be looking at Old people like myself? I’ll go with the young people because they’re the future,” he concluded

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