The Federal Government has spent over N150 billion to support 788,000 students under the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) initiative.
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Idris, made this known during an end-of-year news conference on Monday in Abuja.
Idris said President Bola Tinubu’s administration had achieved notable progress across various sectors, especially education. He described 2025 as a “bumper year for targeted and catalytic policymaking and implementation, particularly for young Nigerians.”
According to the minister, “NELFUND has now supported over 788,000 Nigerian students with interest-free loans and stipends amounting to over N150 billion, and still counting.”
He further explained that the Federal Government’s Investment in Digital and Creative Enterprises (iDICE) programme also commenced during the year. The programme, he said, is built around “an investment in a new multi-million-dollar venture fund that will support the creative and digital entrepreneurship aspirations of young Nigerians.”
The minister announced that the Student Venture Capital Grant (S-VCG) was launched in 2025. He stated that the S-VCG provides equity-free financing of up to N50 million for undergraduate innovators in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine (STEMM) disciplines across accredited tertiary institutions.
“With this new intervention, the country is nurturing the seeds of entrepreneurship on its campuses and turning the brightest minds into job creators, not just job seekers,” Idris added.
He also highlighted the progress of the Three Million Technical Talent (3MTT) programme, which aims to build Africa’s largest digital workforce.
NELFUND was created to manage the Nigeria Student Loan Scheme, which President Bola Tinubu signed into law in April 2024. The initiative offers interest-free loans to students in public tertiary institutions to cover tuition and living expenses.
The scheme began accepting applications in May 2024 and was designed to remove financial barriers to education, particularly for students from low-income families. Beneficiaries are expected to repay the loans two years after completing their studies and gaining employment, with NELFUND partnering with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) for loan recovery after the service year.
