Education
Osinbajo tells APC governors, We need to act fast on ASUU strike
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, yesterday, received some governors of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in his office, where he called for urgent action to address dwindling economy and protracted strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
The governors were at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, to felicitate Osinbajo, as he recovers from a surgical operation he underwent last month.
At the meeting were: Governors Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi); Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti); Simon Lalong (Plateau); Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos); Muhammad Badaru Abubakar (Jigawa); Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq (Kwara); Abubakar Sani Bello (Niger); Dapo Abiodun (Ogun); Abdullahi Sule (Nasarawa), and the deputy governor of Ebonyi, Kelechi Igwe.
During the brief interaction, The Guardian gathered that other important national issues were raised, even as the leaders agreed on urgent resolutions for the benefit of Nigerians.
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The Vice President said: “We all need to work together on these critical issues. We need to think through things, and we need to do it fast.”
MEANWHILE, Delta State governor and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) vice presidential candidate, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, yesterday, urged the Federal Government to understudy his education policy on how he successfully runs four universities.
Okowa, who expressed dismay over the prolonged strike, asked the government to come over to him and “understudy the four universities in Delta to see how we are keeping our students and lecturers on campus by providing adequate facilities in our schools.”
The governor, who spoke via his chief press secretary, Mr. Olisa Ifejika, said: “If Mr. President truly has the interest of students at heart, he should keep aside ego and come to use his (Okowa’s) model on education.”
Also, Minister of State for Education, Goodluck Nanah Opiah, insisted Federal Government has done much for the education sector, especially, universities, adding that this should prompt ASUU to reconsider its position on the industrial action.
The minister said it won’t be out of place for major stakeholders in governance, like members of the National Assembly, to leverage on what the government has done and ensure the lecturers return to work.
The minister disclosed this during his presentation to the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETfund), which had visited the ministry as part of its oversight functions.
Opiah added: “Government has yielded to all the demands of ASUU. The only thing is that government doesn’t support anyone who doesn’t work but wants pay.”
Opiah, who stood in for Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, revealed that TETfund has exceeded expectations by giving out trillions of naira, beyond what ASUU had requested for infrastructural development of universities.
IN a related development, the Federal Government, through the National Universities Commission (NUC), has convened a meeting with vice-chancellors, pro-chancellors and the management of federal universities, in line with the ongoing strike action by the ASUU.
The meeting is expected to hold on September 6, 2022, at the NUC secretariat in Abuja and seek ways of reopening the universities.
This was convened in a letter written by the Deputy Executive Secretary (Administration) of the NUC, Chris Maiyaki, and addressed to all pro-chancellors, chairmen of councils and vice-chancellors of federal universities.
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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