The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has assured stakeholders that the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) will not affect its operations.

Speaking on Channels Television?s breakfast programme, The Morning Brief, on Tuesday, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NELFUND, Akintunde Sawyerr, expressed optimism that the ongoing negotiations between the Federal Government and ASUU under the leadership of the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, would produce fair and positive outcomes.

?As you are aware, the strike has only just commenced, and I know that under the excellent leadership of the Honourable Minister for Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, the negotiations will continue to move forward,? Sawyerr said.

The FUND at the weekend approved a final reopening of its loan application platform, to enable tertiary institutions yet to complete their student verification exercise to do so.

A statement made available to newsmen in Abuja on Friday by Director, Strategic Communications of the Fund, Oseyemi Oluwatuyi, said the portal would be accessible from 12:00 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 12, to 12:00 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 14.

The extension, she said, was intended to ensure that all eligible students were duly captured and verified by their respective institutions as part of the ongoing 2024/2025 NELFUND loan application process.

Sawyerr added that NELFUND remained confident that the ministry?s plans ?will seek to be fair and equitable and will derive the right results,? assuring that the development ?will not impact our operations because what the Federal Government has done with NELFUND is put a scheme in place that will address in many ways some of the issues in education.?

?I don?t think this should be jeopardized at all,? he continued. ?Even though the funding that NELFUND is providing is for students, the rest of the ?pie,? if you like, is also being addressed by the excellent leadership of Dr. Tunji Alausa. So I would not want to preempt those discussions, those negotiations, those positions.?

He emphasized that the agency does not want students to be negatively affected by the strike, stressing the importance of monitoring developments closely before making any pronouncements.

?The reality of it is that we don?t want to see students affected negatively in any way,? he said. ?Having said that, we need to be very close to the discussions and look closely at how this unfolds for us to begin to make pronouncements as to what will be affected by NELFUND.

He explained that the agency is seeking guidance from the Minister of Education on how to proceed, noting that the strike discussions are ongoing.

?We are seeking guidance from the Honourable Minister, who is our leader in this regard, and I will take guidance from him as to the way this should move forward,? Sawyerr said. ?As of today, it will not affect upkeep, but the negotiations are ongoing, and we must be responsive to that.?

He maintained that NELFUND, as part of the current administration, is focused on complementing other efforts to ensure that education continues to work effectively in Nigeria.

?I don?t want to make any pronouncements till I hear from the Honourable Minister, who will provide guidance because this is all part of the package to ensure education must work in Nigeria,? he concluded.

His comments come as ASUU dismissed the Federal Government?s ?No Work, No Pay? directive, insisting that the union will not be intimidated by threats.

ASUU President, Chris Piwuna, stated this on Monday while speaking as a guest on Channels Television?s Politics Today.

According to him, the union remained united and would not succumb to what he described as the government?s attempt to divide the academic community.

?We don?t respond to threats, and nobody can threaten us,? Piwuna said.

Piwuna maintained that all academic bodies, such as the National Association of Medical and Dental Academics (NAMDA) and the Congress of Nigerian University Academics (CONUA), were standing together in support of the strike action.

?No Work, No Pay?

On Monday, the Federal Government directed universities to implement the ?No Work, No Pay? policy against lecturers participating in the ongoing two-week warning strike.

The directive was contained in a circular dated October 13, signed by the Education Minister.

The Minister expressed the government?s displeasure over ASUU?s decision to embark on a nationwide strike despite ongoing negotiations and appeals for dialogue.

?In line with extant provisions of labour laws, the Federal Government reiterates its position on the enforcement of the ?No Work, No Pay? policy in respect of any employee who fails to discharge his or her official duties during the period of strike action,? the letter partly read. (Channels TV)

Update news