Students Struggle to Complete Student Loan Applications After Portal Launch

By Ikugbadi Oluwasegun

SINCE THE launch of the student loan portal by the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) on Friday, May 24, 2024, students from various federal tertiary institutions across Nigeria have been experiencing significant difficulties completing their loan applications.

Despite the portal being open for applications, many students have found themselves stuck at different stages of the registration process.

For instance, some students, like Damilola from the University of Lagos (UNILAG), have been unable to move past the National Identity Number (NIN) verification stage due to technical issues with the NIMC portal.

Chidinma, a final-year student at UNILAG, is particularly concerned about the 30-day approval period for the loan, fearing it may cause them to miss course registration and exams. Adding to their worries, the school management has announced plans to close the university portal to students who haven’t paid their school fees.

Students from the Federal University Lokoja are facing a different issue: their institution is not listed on the portal. Meanwhile, other students are struggling with entering their bank codes correctly.

Additionally, students from institutions that don’t require JAMB registration, such as the National Open University, are unable to sign up due to the JAMB registration number requirement.

Raphael Einstein, a student from Federal University Lokoja, expressed his frustration, writing, “We students couldn’t apply for the loan because our school name is not on the portal… Please, we’ll really appreciate it if you can help us resolve that. Thank you!”

Similarly, Anthony Esther, a student from the National Open University, wrote, “I can’t sign up for the loan because I don’t have a JAMB registration number. How do I go about it? Thanks.”

JKNewsMedia reached out to NELFUND on Monday for comment, but no response has been received as of yet, leaving students frustrated and seeking urgent assistance to resolve these issues.