By Aaron Ossai
The Federal Government has launched a loan scheme to support staff of tertiary institutions nationwide, Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa has said.
Speaking at a media roundtable in Abuja, the Minister said under the scheme tagged “Tertiary Institution Staff Support Fund” each worker will be eligible to access up to N10 million loan.
He said the scheme is designed to enhance the welfare and professional development of academic and non-academic staff in Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education nationwide.
“Each academic and non-academic staff member will be eligible to receive up to N10 million capped at 33.3 per cent of their annual gross salary.
“Eligible uses include transportation, medical support and micro-enterprise ventures such as poultry farming”, he said adding that the sum of N50 billion in the first disbursement of the Earned Academic Allowance, EAA in June this year.
Speaking further, Alausa disclosed that Nigeria and France has launched 38 million Euro ICT project to digitally transform higher education in Nigeria.
“Launch of the Blueprint ICT Development (Blueprint ICT-Dev) a 38 million Euro initiative aimed at driving digital transformation in ten universities across the country.
“The Blueprint ICT Development (Blueprint-ICT-Dev) project is an initiative funded by the French Development Agency (AFD). It aims to strengthen institutional ICT infrastructure, enable hybrid and cross-border learning, improve education data systems for evidence-based policymaking, promote technical and vocational education through digital tools, and expand digital education in underserved communities”, he said.
According to him, the ten beneficiary universities include the University of Calabar, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, University of Ibadan, Federal University of Technology, Minna and University of Maiduguri.
He also disclosed that under the Tertiary Infrastructure Boost with TETFund, Federal Government has allocated the sum of N70 billion to upgrade 18 medical schools and N40 billion to build six simulation laboratories for medical training institutions.
On the National Students Loan Programme under through the Nigeria Education Loan Fund, NELFUND, the Minister said that the application portal opened on May 24, 2024 explaining that the programme aims to provide interest-free loans to eligible Nigerian students in public tertiary institutions to cover tuition and upkeep expenses.
He stated that as of July 24, 2025, NELFUND reported that more than N77 billion ($50 million) had been disbursed to 396,252 students across 210 tertiary institutions nationwide.
“Application for the 2023/2024 academic session closed on February 21, 2025 while the portal for the 2024/2025 application circle opened on February 22, 2025”, he added.
The Minister who on what he tagged “Financial Initiatives and Incentives” also disclosed that the Federal Government has raised the annual scholarship grants for Phd, Masters and Undergraduate students by 50 percent in 2025.
A breakdown of the increase shows that Phd students will receive N750,000, Masters students NN600,000 while undergraduate students will receive N450,000.
“This adjustment is part of a N6 billion scholarship plan for the 2025-2026 academic circles”, Dr. Alausa further disclosed.
End
