Africa Brands Review Urges FG to Halt Planned Extension of NELFUND to Private Schools

Funmi Ogundare

The Executive Secretary of African Brands Review/APCI, Joseph Ayodele, has called on the Federal Government to immediately suspend plans to extend the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) and tuition subsidies to privately owned schools, warning that such a move could trigger widespread corruption and divert scarce public resources from government institutions.

He described the proposed expansion as a corruption-prone regime capable of mirroring past scandals in Nigeria’s oil subsidy and foreign exchange sectors.

Ayodele argued that while NELFUND has served as a critical lifeline for students in public tertiary institutions grappling with the economic effects of fuel subsidy removal and naira devaluation, extending the scheme to private schools would undermine its core objective.

According to him, “Channeling public funds to private operators risks incentivising inefficiency and data manipulation, particularly in cases where institutions operate below capacity.”

Instead of extending NELFUND to private schools, he outlined a three-point recommendation for strengthening public education including expansion of public school feeding programmes to improve enrolment, focus and attendance among vulnerable pupils; direct investment in infrastructure, teacher recruitment and training in government schools, including the gradual elimination of PTA and community-funded teachers to ensure full state control of payrolls; and restricting NELFUND strictly to public tertiary institutions to protect access for disadvantaged students.

“Nigeria must choose efficiency and transparency over opaque subsidies,” Ayodele stated. “The path to educational recovery lies in a robust, well-funded public system, not the bankrolling of private enterprises.”

Drawing parallels with policy missteps in Nigeria’s early 2000s milling industry, Ayodele cited what he termed the Ghost Capacity trap.

He noted that proposed subsidies based on installed capacity at the time would have rewarded underperforming companies rather than efficient producers.

The executive secretary stated, “For instance, Standard Flour Mills Limited reportedly had an installed capacity of 600 metric tonnes per day but operated below 240 metric tonnes, while Honeywell Flour Mills, with a 240-metric tonne capacity, exceeded expectations by producing 360 metric tonnes daily.”

He warned that a similar scenario could play out in the education sector, where some private schools maintain expansive facilities, but record low enrolment figures.

A per-student subsidy, he argued, could encourage inflated data reporting to attract higher public funding.

“History serves as a stern warning against subsidising private infrastructure,” he said, stressing that such a policy may reward inefficiency instead of genuine educational performance.

The executive secretary also criticised the Federal Ministry of Education’s reported proposal to sponsor out-of-school children in private primary schools, including covering tuition and uniforms.

He described the move as a fundamental abdication of state duty.

Citing constitutional provisions on Universal Basic Education (UBE), Ayodele insisted that the government’s primary obligation is to provide free, high-quality education through public institutions.

“The government’s constitutional responsibility is to provide free, high-quality UBE through its own institutions,” he stated. “The state must not become an accessory to promoting private profit under the guise of social welfare.”

To reinforce its position, he referenced Loyola Jesuit College, which emerged as Nigeria’s top performer in the 2025 May/June WASSCE.

According to him, the institution is part of a global network of over 770 campuses, only three of which are in Nigeria, and operates on a universal standard of excellence rather than government handouts.

Ayodele recalled that at the 2026 Africa Top Schools awards in Lagos, the college’s president reportedly emphasised that quality education is driven by institutional mission and standards, not subsidies.

He maintained that private schools with extensive infrastructure but low enrolment should compete on merit rather than rely on public funding.