Education
FG Moves to Meet ASUU’s Demand, Constitutes White Paper Committee
By Derrick Bangura.
The federal government has taken a step toward addressing one of the union’s issues, four days into the one-month warning strike launched by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
This was accomplished by the government on Thursday when it announced the formation of 21 panels to produce White Papers for the reports of visits previously sent to Nigerian higher institutions in order to examine the activities of the various tertiary institutions around the country.
The Education Minister, Adamu Adamu, formed 10 panels for 36 universities, six for 25 polytechnics, and five for the 21 colleges of education, according to Ben Goong, Director, Press, and Public Relations at the Ministry of Education.
The panels that will be inaugurated in the following days have been allowed two weeks from the day of inauguration to submit their reports, according to the statement.
ASUU had demanded that the government release White Papers on the reports of the visitation panels constituted by President Muhammadu Buhari in April 2021, to visit the 88 tertiary institutions across the country.
The university lecturers had lamented that many months after the submission of reports to the government it was yet to release the White Papers.
While declaring its warning strike on Monday, ASUU had demanded an immediate release of the White Papers to address the lapses in the administration of federal universities.
The panels, which were constituted based on ASUU’s request, had submitted their reports to the education minister in August 2021.
While receiving the report, Adamu, who was represented by the Minister of State for Education, Chukuwuemeka Nwajiuba, had promised that the government would give adequate attention to the recommendations contained in the reports.
Parts of the visitation panel’s term of reference in April 2021 included a review of each institution’s performance in the areas of governance, academic standards, quality assurance, financial management, management and staff relationships, as well as the school’s infrastructure and instructional materials.
The inspection panels were also required to evaluate the institutions’ financial management, compliance with procurement regulations, and the use of cash, notably special grants and loans given for specific projects, among other things.
“Education Minister, Adamu Adamu, has established White Paper Drafting Panels for Tertiary Institutions across the country, following the receipt of reports from Visitation Panels to Tertiary Institutions last year.”
“Minister Of education, Adamu Adamu, has established White Paper Drafting Panels for Tertiary Institutions across the country, following the receipt of reports from Visitation Panels to Tertiary Institutions last year.”
“Ten White Paper Drafting Panels have been established for 36 universities, while six Panels have been established for 25 polytechnics, and five Panels have been established for 21 colleges of education.”
“For four Inter-university Centres, one Panel will prepare a White Paper.
“From the date of inauguration, all Panels have two weeks to submit their reports.”
The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has commenced the disbursement of upkeep payments to students who successfully updated their bank account details from digital wallets to commercial bank accounts.
This was announced in a statement released on Friday in Abuja by the Director of Strategic Communications of the Fund, Mrs. Oseyemi Oluwatuyi.
Oluwatuyi described the development as a significant breakthrough in addressing earlier disbursement delays.
“Over 3,600 students, who previously registered with digital-only banking platforms, have now successfully received their backlog of upkeep payments after updating their details to conventional commercial bank accounts on the NELFUND portal,” she stated.
“We appreciate the patience and understanding of all affected students during this period. Your resilience and cooperation have made this progress possible,” she added.
The NELFUND spokesperson advised students who have yet to update their bank details to raise a support ticket via the official NELFUND portal to request access for the update.
She further urged affected students to report through the IT office of their respective institutions, which would compile and forward all related cases to NELFUND for prompt resolution.
“NELFUND remains committed to ensuring that no eligible student is left behind. This resolution process is part of our broader effort to enhance the efficiency, transparency, and student-centered delivery of our support services,” she said.
Oluwatuyi encouraged students to continue engaging only through official NELFUND channels and to assist their peers who may need help navigating the update process.
She also provided contact options for inquiries, stating that the fund can be reached via email at info@nelf.gov.ng or through its official social media handles: X (formerly Twitter) @nelfund; Instagram @nelfund; and Facebook & LinkedIn: Nigerian Education Loan Fund – NELFUND.
The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has issued a directive to all accredited tertiary institutions to verify and upload their students’ data on the newly digitised Student Loan Application System (SLAS).
This was disclosed in a statement released in Abuja on Wednesday by the Director of Strategic Communications at NELFUND, Mrs Oseyemi Oluwatuyi.
According to Oluwatuyi, the SLAS platform has been fully digitised to streamline and accelerate the student loan processing experience for both institutions and applicants.
“With this upgrade, all accredited institutions are now required to request access to SLAS to verify and upload student data related to loan applications,” she said.
She described the move as “a critical step that ensures the timely processing and disbursement of approved student loans.”
Institutions that have not yet been onboarded onto the system, she said, are advised to send an access request to registration@nelf.gov.ng without delay.
“Once granted access, institutions will be able to view a real-time dashboard of their students’ loan applications, verify submitted data, and track the status of each application,” Oluwatuyi explained.
She called on all institutions to take immediate action in the interest of their students, stressing that verification and data upload by institutions are mandatory steps before final approval and disbursement of loans can be completed.
On the students’ side, Oluwatuyi noted that if an application status currently shows “Verified,” it means the application has passed initial checks. However, final approval and disbursement depend on the institutions’ confirmation and data upload.
“Once this process is completed, your status will be updated to ‘Disbursed’ when the payment of your fees has been processed,” she added.
She also encouraged students to reach out to the fund for assistance via email at info@nelf.gov.ng.
Other official communication channels include:
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X (formerly Twitter): @nelfund
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Instagram: @nelfund
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Facebook & LinkedIn: Nigerian Education Loan Fund – NELFUND
The National Universities Commission, (NUC), has given full accreditation to the Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT), for her Law programme.
According to the Public Relations Officer of ESUT, Mr Ikechukwu Ani, this is contained in a letter addressed to the institution’s Vice Chancellor, Prof. Aloysius Okolie, on Wednesday in Enugu by the NUC.
Ani said that in the letter, the Executive Secretary of NUC, Prof. Abdullahi Ribadu said the report was contained in the result of the October/November 2024 accreditation of academic programmes in Nigerian universities.
Ani disclosed that other programmes in the institution accredited by the NUC include Master of Science in Business Management; Education Computer Science; Education Physics and Agricultural Engineering.
Other accredited programmes he said were Quantity Surveying; Urban and Regional Planning; and Applied Microbiology.
He said that the letter quoted Section 10 (1) of the Education National Minimum Standard and Establishment of Institutions, Act CAP E3, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 as empowering the NUC to lay down minimum academic standards for all academic programmes taught in Nigerian universities.
He said the session also empowers the NUC to accredit such programmes.
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