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Sunday Okobi

The Concerned Igbo Stakeholders Forum (CISF) has called on the President Bola Tinubu-led administration to take a second look at the non-inclusion of any higher institution in the South-east region as a beneficiary in the NELFUND student loan.

 The group, while reacting to the development in a statement issued yesterday by its leaders, wondered how students from every other geopolitical region in the country made it to the first batch of disbursement except their counterparts in the South-east.

The statement noted that: “This is not how to manage a diverse and multicultural society like Nigeria. What impression does Mr. President want Nigerian students schooling in the Southeast to have about their place in the scheme of things?”

The CISF also responded to the claims by the NELFUND spokesperson, Nasir Ayitogo, that “there is no consideration of geopolitical zones in the disbursement. “The CISF noted with curiosity why, by chance, the South-east region that has long complained of marginalisation is the only region ‘unintentionally’ excluded from this first batch of interventions. This cannot be a coincidence but simply a case of negligence.

“The claim by NELFUND about the late compliance with verification by institutions in the Southeast is also unfounded. Provided that at least one institution in the Southeast had complied before the recent release of the list by beneficiaries, it is enough to coopt the institution in the first batch to demonstrate the federal government’s commitment to the Federal Character principle.”

The group therefore, called on President Tinubu to recall the list, and “as a matter of urgency, order the inclusion of three to four institutions from the Southeast. It should be noted that Igbos are equal stakeholders in the Nigerian project and must be respected as such.”