Igbeaku Orji 
Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, has described the National Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) as a laudable initiative of the federal government, but required adequate sensitization to realize its objectives.
The Governor said unless there was adequate sensitization, to clarify dark areas, the merits of the Fund would be lost on students of tertiary institutions that it was meant to serve and the aim defeated.
Governor Otti told the visiting Director, of Regional Advocacy, NELFUND, Engr. Nneamaka Okafor, to raise the awareness campaign, believing that if the people were well informed they would likely participate in the programme and access the students’ loans to enable them to pursue their academic dreams.
Otti, while making a case for students of tertiary institutions in Abia State including Abia State University, Ogbonnaya Onu Polytechnic and Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, though a federal university, explained that the call became necessary because the average Igbo was sceptical about loans, especially with interest.
“You see, our people have this attitude towards loans; except if they’ve tried everything; because once you are owing, even the business people, when they borrow, they want to pay back.
“This is where advocacy comes in. I am not too sure that our people know that it is interest-free, maybe they know, but their attitude towards borrowing still has something to do with it. I think we need to sensitize them.
“Maybe we need to do a little bit more
because this is a very good initiative,e particularly for students who are from indigent homes. So, I am sure that if our people understand clearly that nobody would be chasing them to pay back the loan when they have no means of livelihood, their attitude will change.”
Governor Otti directed the Commissioner for Tertiary Education, Professor Uche Emeh Uche, to mount aggressive advocacy across the tertiary institutions in the State, even as he assured the NELFUND Director of office accommodation and other logistics for the smooth operation in the State.
Speaking earlier, the Director, Regional Advocacy, NELFunds, Engr. Nneamaka Okafor said she came to seek partnership with the State government in office accommodation, sensitizing the people about the students’ loan, lamenting that the South East had the lowest list of those that have been applying for it.
