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:

• X (formerly Twitter): @nelfund

• Instagram: @nelfund

• Facebook & LinkedIn: Nigerian Education Loan Fund – NELFUND

The Anambra State Police Command has foiled a cult initiation ceremony in Nawfia, Njikoka Local Government Area of the state.

Spokesperson for the Command, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, disclosed this in a statement issued on Tuesday in Awka.

According to Ikenga, the operation was carried out by police operatives around 9:30am on June 15, leading to the arrest of six suspects at the scene.

Recovered during the raid were one Jojef pump action gun, two cartridges, and a golden-coloured Lexus SUV with registration number ATN 202 AE. Other items found include two cutlasses, two scissors, a cap bearing the inscription of the Supreme Vikings Confraternity, charms, and substances suspected to be hard drugs.

“They are currently undergoing police interrogation to get more insight into their modus operandi, after which the case will be charged to court on the conclusion of the investigations,” Ikenga stated.

The police spokesperson reassured residents of the command’s unwavering commitment to fighting cultism and other related crimes across the state.

President Bola Tinubu on Monday called for greater regional cooperation and coordinated action among African countries to unlock transformative development across the continent.

Speaking through Vice President Kashim Shettima at the Fourth Annual Meeting of the Africa Sovereign Investors Forum (ASIF) in Abuja, the President said sovereign wealth funds must evolve from passive fiscal buffers into proactive tools for continental transformation.

“Our future lies not in working in silos but in pursuing regional cooperation and collective ambition,” Tinubu said while declaring the forum open. “Our sovereign wealth funds must become the anchors for pan-African investment platforms that de-risk projects, standardise processes and deliver sustainable outcomes at scale. This is not just a strategy. This is a necessity.”

The forum, hosted by the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), had the theme: “Leveraging African Sovereign Wealth Funds to Mobilise Global Capital for Transformative Development in Africa.”

President Tinubu emphasized the need for Africa to adapt to a rapidly transforming global economy by rethinking investment strategies to close infrastructure gaps, build climate resilience, and create jobs for the continent’s fast-growing youth population.

“Africa faces a development dilemma: limited fiscal space, growing expectations, and urgent demands for long-term capital,” the President noted. “There can be no greater inspiration to re-imagine how we invest in setting up critical infrastructure, strengthening our climate resilience, promoting food security, supporting MSMEs, or embracing digital economy to create jobs and expand opportunity.”

He lauded NSIA as a model institution, describing it as “a catalyst in our national quest” to unlock growth in renewable energy, healthcare, agriculture, and more.

Tinubu added that ASIF provided a much-needed pan-African mechanism for sovereign funds to “share knowledge, co-invest across borders and speak with a unified voice in the global financial ecosystem.”

Also speaking at the event, Managing Director of NSIA, Mr. Aminu Umar-Sadiq, said the forum was expected to lay the groundwork for African sovereign funds to co-create sustainable investment vehicles capable of attracting global capital.

“We want to strike the right balance between risk-taking and conservative wealth management,” he said. “And we aim to position ourselves as preferred strategic partners for global investors looking for credible exposure in Africa.”

Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, highlighted capital mobilisation, cross-border collaboration, and policy alignment as key priorities for driving long-term development across the continent.

President of AfreximBank, Prof. Benedict Oramah, underscored the importance of investing Africa’s sovereign wealth within the continent, stressing that domestic markets must be strengthened to shape Africa’s developmental future.

Chairman of ASIF, Mr. Obaid Amrane, said the forum had made significant strides in its three years of existence and would continue to champion Africa’s global investment positioning.

Delivering a rousing address, renowned Pan-African scholar Prof. P.L.O. Lumumba called on African leaders to prioritise investments for future generations.

“It is an intergenerational duty for political and economic leaders on the continent to cater for unborn generations,” Lumumba said. “Africa’s resources are inexhaustible. The time to invest in our future is now.”

With a convergence of policymakers, development financiers, and investment leaders, the ASIF meeting in Abuja signalled a united determination to rethink Africa’s path to development—driven not by aid, but by African capital working for African progress.