The Federal Government has said statistics and data available have shown that northerners in universities are the highest beneficiaries of its Nigerian Education Loan Fund the (NELFUND) scheme.
The programme, which launched on May 24, 2024 by President Bola Tinubu, is meant to assist indigent students in public universities to access quality education.
NELFUND covers tuition fees of the student, which is paid directly to the institution, as well as monthly upkeep allowance of N20,000.
At pre-media tour briefing in Abuja on Monday,April 27, the Special Assistant to the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Rabiu Ibrahim, noted that NELFUND is assisting children from poor homes to meet their educational challenges.
“Now, their tuition is being paid, not just tuition (but) every month, they also have stipends to spend.
“So, in terms of what we are going to be doing in the North West, I tell you, everyone will come back convinced that the government of President Bola Tinubu is actually the best to happen to Nigeria,” Ibrahim said.
According to him, President Tinubu is the first to introduce NELFUND in Africa.
“That is the fact of the matter. This is the only government in Africa that is looking at it.
“It’s a model that has worked elsewhere in the West.
“For the first time, a president is bringing it to the nation of Nigeria and it is working,” he said.
National Coordinator, Presidential Initiative for Unlocking Healthcare Value Chains (PVAC), Nasiru Mohammed, said the Bank of Agriculture has been recapitalised to the tune of N1.5 trillion, to assist farmers and stakeholders to understand policies of government.
Mohammed explained that the northern region is positioned to benefit more from the recapitalisation because of its vast landmass that is good for agriculture.
He stated that the Presidential Initiative for Unlocking the Healthcare Value Chain, seeks to transform the healthcare sector from one that is a drain on the economy to one that is a net positive to the economy.
The national coordinator recalled that a major step was achieved in 2024 with the signing of Executive Order by President Tinubu, on local manufacturing of pharmaceuticals, which he said, has helped to shape the healthcare sector
“And it does so by one main key thing, which is to incentivise private sector to locally produce pharmaceuticals,” he said, stating that this was done in two key ways – to shape the market, making sure that locally produced medicines and pharmaceutical products are made available to every Nigerian competitively, as well as ensuring zero value added tax (VAT) on the importation of raw material supply and manufacturing equipment.
“This Executive Order was signed in 2024 and came into effect in 2005. And I’m very happy to say that the private sector, the local manufacturers of medicines, of pharmaceuticals have benefited immensely at it,” Mohammed stated.
He also said the administration, earlier this year commissioned the National Oncology or Cancer Centres in each of the six zones of the country.
