- Idi Farouk, a one-time former Director-General of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), has applauded the Federal Government for the impact of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, NELFUND, on Nigerians.Speaking in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja on Sunday, Mr Farouk described NELFUND as a transformative initiative that had brought great relief to both students and their parents.
Recall that the federal government established NELFUND in 2024 to provide loans to students in tertiary institutions across the country. The establishment of the fund followed the passage of the Student Loans (Access to Higher Education) (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bill by the Senate and its eventual signing into law by President Bola Tinubu.
Mr Farouk said that the agency had significantly reduced the financial burden on families and empowered young Nigerians to pursue higher education with ease. “I never knew about NLEFUND until I saw Mr Akintunde Sawyerr, the head of the agency, speaking about the organisation on a television programme recently. I must commend Tinubu for establishing NELFUND; the agency needs to blow its trumpet loudly for people, especially poor and brilliant children at the grassroots, who are eager to acquire higher education but are unaware of it. I was highly impressed with this initiative, and Mr Sawyerr gave me the impression that he is a good fit, as he was on top of his game. Most parents do not know about the agency, but the students could apply and get the loan and yet tell lies to their parents, and so for me, I think more enlightenment will make more people know about the programme,’’ he said.
He said that there were other laudable programmes domiciled in the Ministry of Education and other organisations of which Nigerians were not aware. On assessing President Tinubu after two years in office, Mr Farouk said that rather than evaluating the president, he would prefer to comment on his appointees.
He continued, “Mr President chose people in various departments of governance, ministers, director-generals and managing directors. I would rather assess these people individually than assess the president himself. “For instance, one might not like the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Nyesom Wike, but you cannot take it away that he is among the best performing ministers of the Tibunu administration. Since Wike came on board, it is like the FCT has never had a minister. Moreover, when you go through our airports, you can equally say that the Aviation Minister, Mr Festus Keyamo, SAN, is doing an excellent job. But that cannot be said of the Minister of Defence or the police affairs ministry, and I do not even know what to say about the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, with the way our naira is tumbling and the inflation rate. Generally, when it comes to federal roads, I think there is a serious problem because the government is not performing adequately in that area. For instance, when you visit Kaduna State, you need a human doctor, and your vehicle also requires a mechanic due to the poor state of the roads. And the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway, I cannot assess its importance to our economy, nor can I condemn it. However, I can condemn the manner in which the contract was awarded, as the bidding process was not open to big construction firms to participate.
“I know too that some people might condemn the contract too because they do not understand the benefits to ordinary Nigerians at this moment; until the project comes on stream, maybe after us, people will know the importance. Recently, we travelled to Egypt; my wife, my child and I. We paid $ 63 to a tour guide to visit the Pyramids, but when Pharaoh Khufu, who built the pyramids about 4,600 years ago, was constructing them, some people might have wondered about their significance. The pyramids today are revenue earners to the country, and so that might sometimes be the case with the coastal highway,” he said.
The director-general, however, noted that some organisations were positively impacting the lives of Nigerians but were not informing the people about their activities. “I think that the National Orientation Agency is doing equally well, and my assessment of these organisations is devoid of any sentiment because my position is purely to encourage those performing to enable them to do better, while those that are not doing well should sit up,” he said. According to him, the essence of appointing them to various positions by the president is to help deliver the dividends of democracy to Nigerians.
He, therefore, called on Tinubu to conduct a comprehensive review of all his appointees and remove those who were not performing effectively. “I feel Mr President should rejig his cabinet to bring better hands to help him deliver in all segments of his government,’’ he said.
On the conferment of national honours on some Nigerians by Tinubu during the recent democracy day, Farouk said it was within the president’s power to do so. “It does not matter at what point he gives the award; it is the prerogative of Mr President to give awards to whom, in his opinion, deserve them,” he said.
