The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has launched a scathing response to former Senator Dino Melaye over his comments on the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), accusing him of misunderstanding the scheme and misleading the public.
In a statement signed by its President, Dist. Comr. Akinteye Babatunde Afeez, NANS described Melaye as a “dolt” and an “uninformed dullard” after he questioned the NELFUND initiative and focused on the ₦20,000 monthly upkeep payment received by student beneficiaries.
Melaye had described NELFUND as a “haven of corruption” and questioned how the government could claim to be paying students’ school fees when beneficiaries receive ₦20,000.
NANS, however, said the ₦20,000 is an upkeep component of the programme and not the total financial support available to beneficiaries. The association said NELFUND also provides interest-free loans for institutional charges, with payments made directly to eligible institutions, while upkeep support is paid into students’ accounts.
NELFUND’s official platform similarly states that approved institutional charges are paid to the student’s institution, while the upkeep component is paid into the beneficiary’s bank account. Its loan terms also distinguish between institutional fees and upkeep.
NANS accused Melaye of reducing a broader student-loan programme to its upkeep component and urged him to acquaint himself with the details before commenting publicly on the initiative.
The student body also criticised Melaye’s record as a former student leader and former senator, arguing that he should contribute to informed discussions about policies affecting Nigerian students rather than what it described as uninformed commentary.
NANS further urged the former lawmaker to base his criticism of NELFUND on facts and issue-based arguments, saying Nigerian students deserve informed debate about policies affecting their education.
The association also dismissed Melaye’s political criticisms, accusing him of using the NELFUND controversy to attack a government policy and advising him to focus on the facts surrounding the programme.
NANS maintained that the student-loan initiative is broader than the ₦20,000 upkeep payment and said its position was intended to correct what it described as a misleading representation of how NELFUND operates.