Space Summary
The Twitter Space Dialogue On Progress At @Nelfund With Sir @AkintSawyerr hosted by segalink. Delve into a passionate dialogue on progress at @Nelfund with Sir @AkintSawyerr, emphasizing the essential values of justice, transparency, and accountability in community empowerment and fostering good governance. Explore the impact of championing causes and the role of passionate advocacy in creating positive societal changes. Discover how community-led initiatives thrive on accountability, transparency, and good governance to drive meaningful progress and empower communities towards sustained development.
For more spaces, visit the Development Agency page.
Questions
Q: Why is advocacy for justice and transparency important for community empowerment?
A: It ensures fairness, accountability, and trust within communities, leading to empowerment and progress.
Q: How does promoting good governance impact community development?
A: It establishes a foundation of accountability, trust, and efficiency within communities, fostering sustainable growth.
Q: What role does championing causes play in driving positive change?
A: It inspires action, raises awareness, and mobilizes communities towards impactful progress and transformation.
Q: Why is accountability and transparency vital for community-led initiatives?
A: They enhance credibility, build trust, and ensure effective implementation of community-driven projects.
Q: How can passionate advocacy contribute to societal transformations?
A: By fueling momentum, inspiring collective action, and effecting positive changes in societal norms and structures.
Highlights
Time: 00:15:40
Advocacy for Justice and Transparency Discussions on the importance of justice and transparency in empowering communities.
Time: 00:25:12
Community Empowerment through Good Governance Exploring the link between good governance and empowered communities.
Time: 00:35:58
Impact of Championing Causes for Change Insights into how championing causes can lead to positive societal changes.
Time: 00:45:27
Transparency and Accountability in Community Development The critical role of transparency and accountability in community-driven projects.
Time: 00:55:14
Passionate Advocacy for Social Transformations How passionate advocacy can drive societal transformations and positive impact.
Key Takeaways
- Advocacy for justice and transparency is crucial for community empowerment.
- Promoting good governance leads to stronger and more accountable communities.
- Championing causes can drive positive progress and change in society.
- Community empowerment thrives on accountability and transparency.
- Passionate advocacy can inspire positive transformations in communities.
- Justice and transparency are pillars for sustainable community development.
- Good governance fosters trust and empowerment within communities.
- Community-led initiatives drive impactful change in society.
- Empowering communities through advocacy creates a more just society.
- Transparency and accountability are essential for sustainable progress.
Behind the Mic
Initial Interaction
Close it. Mister nursery, are you here? Sorry, I didn't even know I was muted. Mister nursery, are you here? This is an opportunity. Okay, yes, I'm here. The managing director is waiting and he hopes we start on time because he has just about an hour to be here. Okay, I don't know which handle. Is he using this handle to speak to us? Yes, he's using this handle. Oh, okay, no problem. Because I sent him on the other hand. Okay, let me just go straight to the introduction. We'll be with him shortly. I'll hand over the mic shortly.
Introduction of the Guest Speaker
We have in house with us the CEO and the MD and CEO of Nelson in the person of Mister Akintunde Oluwoli Soya, who was born in October 1964, is a Nigerian diplomat and a professional in logistics, healthcare and agricultural development. He is currently the first managing director of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund Nell Fund. He was born in London. His educational journey began at Igbobi College in Lagos, Nigeria, followed by the Royal Russell School in the United Kingdom. He then pursued higher education at the University of London, earning a BSc in Chemistry. He held several positions throughout his career, reflecting a strong background in supply chain management and logistics.
Career Highlights of Mister Soya
From 2013 to 2018, he served as the head of the Sub Saharan Africa at Medtronic, overseeing the region's operations. Prior to that, in 2010, he was an international advisor for the supply chain at Logistics group in the United Arab Emirates, providing strategic guidance. In 2009, Mister Sawyer took on the role of director of Sub Saharan Africa at Ibram Investment in Saudi Arabia. His expertise also extends to the life sciences, consumer product and oil and gas sector where he managed the operations across 21 countries in the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey for DHL in 2007. That same year, he was also head of supply chain for London at DHL XL supply chain indicating a diverse and international scope of experience.
Foundational Achievements by Mister Soya
Mister Sawyer founded the Produce Exports Development Association Pida, formerly known as Afghan, and where the cooperative empowered over 2000 farmers while focusing on tackling post-harvest losses and trade barriers. You're welcome to Amis, sir. Thank you very much indeed. Good evening. It's great to be here. Thank you very much, sir. So quickly, we won't want to take too much of your time. We'll try as much as possible to make this snappy before we open up the mic to people who have pressing questions that they want to ask you.
Concerns About the Loan Application Process
People have been wondering. Let me make a quick apology in advance of yes sir. I have to be in another meeting at 07:00 so I think we've got about 50 minutes, which I hope you can get the most out of the conversation. I apologize. I had a pre-arranged engagement for seven. Thank you. No problem, sir. Thank you very much for responding on very short notice as well. The question I want to ask is we've been getting a lot of people worrying and concerned that they are not sure if they are, if they make an application, if it's going to be approved. So what are the circumstances that will necessitate Nelson's denial of any application? Sir, let's start from there and then you can walk us through the rest.
Understanding the Loan Approval Criteria
Thank you, sir. First of all, let me recognize the anxiety that people have, all of us when we apply for something that might change our lives, our hopes and prayers are that those things will come to pass. So I recognize the anxiety. Now to your question, what are the things that may lead to a denial of an application? It's a bit of a negative question. I like to talk often more about what will make it positive in terms of the result. But look, the reality of it is that once a person has met all the eligibility criteria, in other words, they're Nigerian, they're financially included, they have a matric number. They've managed to access an institution using the jam route.
Conditions Leading to Application Denial
Generally, the only things that will disqualify an individual from applying are things like being rusticated from an institution for being involved in anything from cultism, examination malpractice or any other things that they may get involved in which are against the law, either of the institution or the law of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. So outside of that generally if the application is to a tertiary institution owned by the government and the individual can demonstrate that they don't have the financial means to be able to pay themselves, then generally it will be an approval for most. I think the only other things that can disqualify people is on the technicalities like perhaps their digital ID numbers are incorrect.
Technicalities in Application Process
By that I mean, you know, wrong matric, wrong or inaccurate jam, inaccurate NIN. And sometimes, you know, this isn't the fault of the individual. Sometimes the institution has got the details wrong because we do a matching between what the individual who's applying for the loan tells us and what the institution has provided us about their students. So, but really other than that, if a person's of good character, of good standing in society even though they're young and may not have a long track record of good character and good standing, we will generally grant the loan.
Insights into the Nigerian Education Loan Fund
Thank you very much, sir. Also, can you tell us more about the nail fund? What are some of the things that people don't really know about in terms of the introductory aspect of the whole thing? From your own experience, seeing from your own eyes, how do you see it? And based on the responses thus far, what can you say about. Okay, okay, so very quickly, let me just tell you what nail fund is about. The president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Bola Ahmed Tinumbu, GCFR, had this vision that the only way to bring sanity, sanctity and order to Nigeria is by eliminating things like poverty, banditry, insurgency, but mainly poverty, and really giving people hope for the future.
The Vision Behind the Nigerian Education Loan Fund
Because without hope, people will do all sorts of things. So the whole idea of this that led to the creation of Nell fund was his vision, the president's vision, to show people that you don't have to come from a wealthy home, you don't have to come from a rich background for you to acquire education or to attain the educational standards that you might desire and be capable of. So there was a gap between this desire, this capacity, this need that individuals have and their ability to realize the need. Because there's the gap of not having sufficient funds to be able to access tertiary education in Nigeria by tertiary education. A quick definition for us at Nell Fund is university, polytechnic and colleges of education.
Fund Distribution and Application Process
So anyone who can't access, you know, government institutions under those headings, because they don't have money, that's what NELFund is here to do. Our funds are deployed to bridge that gap. And essentially we use a technology-based system where we say, look, you can apply for the loan without having to know anybody at the loan fund or anybody in society if you're able to provide the information that we require at the portal, www.dotnelf.gov.ng. If you can provide your NIN, your BVN, your jam number, your date of birth, your matric number or your admission number, you can go through and make an application and that then cross-checks with your institution who should have provided us on our database with all of these pieces of information.
Cross-Checking Application Information
Once we cross-check that and there's a match, effectively you get the loan. Thank you. Thank you very much, sir. In other spaces and other conversations, I've heard people asking the question of the essence of this loan itself that is it a subsidy or is it the full support of the school fees? That is it just covering tuition or is it the totality of the funds required to go to school and to finish? So I want to ask you that. Yes, so the answer to the question is this Nell fund will pay 100%, 100% the full institutional charges that the institution is charging for the course and for the individual who's applied for the loan.
Details of Funding by NELFund
So if the institution is charging 100,000 Naira as institutional charges, we will pay that in full. We won't even pay anything less than that because we want to take ensure that the individual gets the full value of being able to access all that is required for them to access in the institution from an academic or a learning or a teaching perspective. There is a second loan that individuals can apply for if they've applied for the first one. The second loan is an upkeep loan. The upkeep loan means that direct to the individual's bank account, if they are successful in the application, NELFund today will pay 20,000 Naira to the account of the individual for twelve months.
Support Beyond Educational Fees
That's for a full academic session, so that the obligor, the lonely, can have funds to spend while they're in the institution studying. So that's what we do. So, to answer your question in a nutshell, we pay the full institutional charges and we provide as nail fund 20,000 Naira per month for twelve months for the successful individual. Just to make one quick clarification, you cannot apply for the upkeep unless you've applied for the institutional charge and have been successful at applying for the institutional fees. So one is contingent on the other.
Ensuring Access to Funds
We're not giving money to people unless they're actually enrolled, registered, accepted and are attending an institution as a bona fide member of that institution. Then they get the stipend and we pay 100% of the institutional charges. Thank you. Thank you, sir. So thus far, in terms of responses, how many institutions do we have and how many students have been covered so far? So in terms of the institutions that we have, the number of institutions that we've covered so far, I think we have about 100 and 910 institutions that have actually had people apply for and had loans paid or about to be paid on their behalf.
Approved Loan Statistics
We have somewhat shy of 30,000 students that have been approved. So those students are tied to the institutions that I’ve just described. I think last time I checked, it was about 27, 28,000 individuals who are benefiting directly or will benefit shortly directly from this. But let me try. And so we have about 108 to be specific institutions, and they're all state-owned institutions and they're the ones that have been cleared. All of them are state-owned.
Engaging the Audience
Okay, sir. So right about now, I will start, even though I have a few other questions. But while I'm putting that together or trying to, I want to get the audience involved in this as well by taking questions from them and letting them also contribute their portrait to this conversation. Because the essence of this is for them, for us to bridge the gap between the people directing the affairs of these initiatives and the Nigerians themselves who are beneficiaries of this. And we want to make direct inquiries from the people running this initiative.
Questions from the Audience
So, Doctor D. Udo, you have the mic. Please let your questions be brief so that we can cover every request and make it straight and direct to the house. Thank you. Thank you so much for the platform and giving us the opportunity to get to know more about this program. And I want to also thank you, Mister King Shawa. This is a very novel program. I mean, even if I have to digress a little, I'm not a supporter of the party, but this is one of the policies of the government that I think should be supported across board because it is a people-oriented project.
Legal Framework Clarifications
I was one of those who supported the 50 billion Naira that the EFCC extended to the program. Right. I would like to get clarity on that because a lot of people did not understand the legal framework backing that donation. So I want to get clarity on that one first. Is that a loan to you as well to Nlphone? Are you going to pay that back or what is that? That is one, then two. It has to do with the controversy surrounding some institutions in the southeast that were not verified.
Concerns Regarding Verification Process
According to the report on your handle, the official handle, they said that the institutions in the southeast did not complete a verification process. It has generated a lot of tension because, you know, Nigeria is the country where a lot of things are viewed under a political lens, right? I know these institutions are manned by boards that appointments can come from anywhere, chairpersons of boards and institutions can be from the north, even the vice-chancellors and all the professionals. These are people that are well-seasoned experts.
Funding Allocation Questions
So it's kind of a coincidence that entirely all the institutions from that one region happen to the same line and not complete the verification process. It's strange to me, but I want you to clarify, even though you might not necessarily go into that, but are you going to clarify that the funding that you get for nel fund, is it appropriated on an equity basis to all the institutions across the country, or is it on a first come first serve basis? In which case that means assuming all your vacation comes from other parts of the country, you will disburse that money and then the other side will lose out.
First-Come, First-Serve Concerns
Or do you allocate money and keep for all the institutions so that irrespective of when they come to apply, they will be able to access these funds equally? Or are you giving them out on a first come basis? Thank you very much. Those are my questions. Thank you. Okay. Thank you very much. So let me try to address each of those questions. I've kind of distilled them into about three questions. The first question talks about the appropriation, if you like, or the provision of the 50 billion proceeds of crime. Funds that the president announced in his recent address should be given to the Nigerian Education Loan fund.
Clarifications on Funding Sources
So that is not a loan to the loan fund. It's actually funds that are seeded directly into the reserve for us to be able to disperse for needy Nigerians or Nigerians who need this. Now, having said that, the funds that we are receiving are meant to be replenished by the recoveries from those who pay back the loan. So in one sense, even though we are not obliged to return these funds, the EFCC, we do have a responsibility to recover loans because they are just that. They are loans back into the reserve and keep it circulating or revolving, if you like, so that as new people come onto the scene requiring these loans in a year's time, in two years time, in five years, in ten years, and in the time, you know, for people who are even yet unborn, that this funding is available for them on a continuous basis.
Appropriate Use of Funds
Now, in terms of the legality of this, I'm not going to pretend that I'm a lawyer or parliamentarian, if you like. However, from my own understanding, when you recover proceeds from crime, it's got to be spent on. Now, I don't know specifically how the appropriation of this might work. However, I do know that it is the responsibility of government to ensure that funds recovered from the process of crime are appropriately deployed to causes that will serve the people.
The Role of Transparency
And I can tell you that in the past where proceeds of crime have been recovered, processes of Nigerian originating crime have been recovered in other parts of the world. We have had countries abroad dictating to our country how those proceeds should be spent or deployed before they return it. So I don't want to speak too much more to that because there are obviously issues there that go beyond my remit of providing funds to needy Nigerian students. Then the second question was around the southeast and some of the commentary that was out saying that funds had not been deployed to southeastern institutions.
Handling Geographical Disparities
I think it's important to recognize and to realize that different parts of the country may behave in different ways with respect to different initiatives of government. Some parts of the country are more enthusiastic about certain initiatives. Others are less enthusiastic. Some are quick off the mark in terms of recognizing what options or benefits may be there for them in that part of the country. Others will come later, but may even accelerate and go ahead of the other parts. I think it's too early. This program has been going for 102 days only.
Emphasizing Fairness
I think to rush to judgment, it's a bit premature. I think part of it is that we're being very transparent, as NELFund, as to what we're seeing. And sometimes when you're transparent, it, you know, it makes people think, well, why is this? And why is that? I think over time, we'll see some of these issues addressing themselves. I think to your third question about, you know, is this on a. Well, actually, let me go back to.
No Quotas Implemented
No, I'll carry on. Your third question about, is this on a first come, first serve basis or even though you didn't use the word quota, I think that's really what you were alluding to, that. Is there a quota? Is there a certain amount for this state or this region? And if they don't use it, then what do we do? At this stage, there is no quota. What the law says is that this is a federal program that should be open to everybody in this country, regardless of where they're from.
Commitment to Equal Opportunity
It's an equal opportunities program, which basically means that we have to promote this program to every single part of this country. We're to educate everybody in this country about the. I think we lost him. Yes. Sorry. I'm not hearing him again. Sorry. Yes, we lost him. I think his network. He will be back with us shortly. Just let's give him a few minutes. But he's still speaking. I can see his mic is still, like, active. I can hear him, too. So I think he's the connection thing. Just let's hold on.
Technical Challenges and Continuity
We lost you for a bit there. Oh, I see. Okay. Where did you hear me laugh? No, please. I will start again from the third question, that quota thing, at least, so that we can get your thought. Please, sir. Hello. What was the last thing you heard? The quote? Yes. So I was saying that this is an equal opportunities program. It's equal that the law actually says that every Nigerian is entitled to this, and we should do everything we can to ensure that it is fair, balanced and equitable across the nation.
Messaging and Outreach
That means sometimes that you have to make more noise about this in one part of the country over the other, just to make sure that people are doubly aware or doubly sure that the opportunity exists. Now, the attitudes to government initiatives may vary from state to state, may vary from region to region. You know, the trust deficit may vary from region to region. It's no fault of this particular administration. I think we've had 66 decades plus of a lot of people feeling that things are not necessarily for them, a lot of skepticism about government initiatives.
Addressing Public Trust
Government is a continuum, and we've had continuous government since 1960 in one form or the other. And different governments have created different opportunities, different problems, different issues. Our job now is to let people know that these funds are available for them. Now we're going to have to convince some people more than others. But just going to the southeastern question, we have a process that we run at NELFund, and the way it works is that once we have approved all the individuals who have applied, we send a list of their names to the respective institutions.
The Verification Process
Institutions. We ask those institutions to respond and confirm that everybody on the list is indeed one of the, indeed their students. Because we don't want to have ghost students on the list. We don't want to be paying people who don't exist. Now, if the institutions don't respond to us in time, we will pay the ones that have responded. I think the network, for a variety of reasons. It doesn't mean that they were lazy. It doesn't mean they were lax. I don't know the circumstances that these institutions are facing in their respective locations. We have since had them responding and reacting.
Student Demographics
I think the other thing I should say with respect to the talk about institutions being discriminated against is that it kind of gets debunked because there are students from the north studying in the south, students from the east studying in the west. So actually, it's pretty difficult to start discriminating against one section of the country or the other, because we actually just look at what the students have, you know, the students that have applied to, and if you've got somebody from the east in an institution in the west, we will approve the loan as long as the institution in the west has confirmed that person is their student. And that's what we're doing. And all of this is very transparent.
Transparency and Accountability
We have all the documents. We have all the emails.
Correspondence with Institutions
We have all the correspondence between NElfUnd and the institutions. It's all date and time stamped. We know when we sent what to who, when and when they responded. However, you know, we are continuously working hard to ensure that we encourage our students from the east, from the west, from the north, from the south to apply regardless of where they live or where they are. And we are encouraging institutions to respond in a timely manner to our request for confirmation because the students are the ones who are going to lose if they don't. Thank you.
Addressing Mr. Kabiru Shajay's Concerns
Thank you very much, sir, for that. Let me go to Mister Kabiru Shajay. Mister Kabiru Shajay, you have the mic. Please be very straight and direct so that I can get through the hands. Thank you. Okay. Thank you very much. My question is, does Neil Pound give law students who are in law schools or only undergraduates? Secondly, does that also give the postgraduate students or only dedicated to university students? And what about those who are pursuing their school like in private schools, all these monotechnic, collective health and private universities? Thank you very much.
Focus on Undergraduate Students
Thank you for the question. So our focus at the moment is to serve the people who need this loan the most. And the people who need it the most are those who are trying to get their first step into higher education. In other words, people who don't already have a degree, who don't already have a higher institution qualification from any one of those three categories that I mentioned, colleges of education, polytechnics and universities. We are mindful that we don't have limitless funds. So we want to focus on those who really can benefit the most from it. And we have decided that it is those who are undergraduates. So, unfortunately, as of today, we are focused on tertiary institutions, but we are micro focused on those who are doing their first degrees, their first higher institution qualification, so that we can help them. Those who've had a first degree or who want to go on already and who want to go on and do a postgraduate, they're in a slightly better position than the ones that we're focusing on.
Expanding Support for Vulnerable Students
We want to help the most vulnerable. I guess that over time, when our funding situation is clearer around the sustainability of funding and, you know, we've been able to achieve, you know, a good higher percentile of people who are able to get their first degrees and we have sufficient funds to expand the program, we will expand it to those who perhaps want or need to have postgraduate qualifications. I think the other thing I should quickly mention here is that we're also mandated at the insistence of the president, when he sent out, when President bolamed Tilumbu insisted that we included those who want to get vocational training, who need to get skills, additional skills, hand skills, creative skills. So we're focused on that as well. But we haven't commenced that phase to the last part of your question, sir. You talked about private universities. So again, we're looking for the most vulnerable people to support people who really are struggling just to pay the.
Support for Students in Government Institutions
The relatively low fees of government institutions and can't. Those are the people want to help. You know, those in private institutions for one reason or the other. In general. In general tend to have a bit more disposable income from parents, from people who are supporting them than those in governmental institutions. So we're not doing private institutions at the moment. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Mister Michael. Mister Michael going. Yes. Thank you for the opportunity. My major question is going to be direct. I think for now it's on the news, especially for the University of Ibadan students who by now should have commenced their exams. And due to not payment of school fees and registration, there was a protest and most of the students have been sent off.
Addressing the Situation at the University of Ibadan
So what is Melpha doing for those students that have applied and they are yet to be verified and approved, and also receive disbursement to their school? If I could quote a figure that I have privy to, I learned that out of 42,000 students that applied from the University of Ibadan, only 1380 something have been approved. Though I'm not sure of that fact. But what is NEtfund doing then? The second question is, would NETfund categorically. Say they would have a fund that. Could go around for number of applicants they have for a year from each schools they are offering educational fund to. Thank you.
Response to Concerns at the University of Ibadan
Okay, mister Oderide, thank you for your question. Let me, specifically address your. The early part of your question. The university. Hello? I can hear you. I can hear you. I can hear you. Hello? We can hear you, sir. Sorry for that. We can hear you, sir. We can hear you now, sir. I think the MIC is fading. The network. We can hear you now, sir. Okay. We can hear you now, sir.
Adjustments Following Delays
Yes, sir. Okay. So I was responding to a question by Mister Oderide. So, Mister Oderide, the position with the University of Ibadan is very simply this. And before I get to that, one thing that is important that all of us recognize is that their institutions in Nigeria, because of historical reasons, have different start dates, different cohorts that are in session at any given time. We're all too aware about strikes that have happened in the past and various reasons why institutions have either had to shut their doors or close down, whether it's for protests or security reasons, all sorts of things. So what you don't have necessarily in Nigeria today is a sort of start date for all universities as a uniform timeline. So whenever you launch a scheme like this, some are going to be opportune that you've launched it perfectly in time for them.
Communication with Universities
Others are going to be disadvantaged because they're already closing registration. It's just a fact of life. What we expect to happen is that we're letting everybody apply now, in the subsequent years, because our portal is open. People will have a lot longer lead time to be able to apply. And therefore some of these issues that you described will be less, will happen less now to the very. So with University of Ibadan, what has happened? They've had a three week delay for a variety of reasons where they're allowing their students to come to have a further three weeks before they can apply. What we've done is we've been in touch with the institution and we've also put word out to the students through various channels.
Student Communication Strategy
And we've asked the institution also to put word out to the students to say, you have a further three weeks to apply. Because we recognize that many students had not applied or were still waiting for a decision from us by the time the original deadline hit. Now, as I said, this is going to be a common problem that we'll be facing across the country because, you know, we can't say because we're starting a loan fund, that everybody should stop and then start again just to align with us. So that's really been the issue to the question about 42,000 having applied and 1000 being approved, that's not accurate.
Understanding Application Numbers
And I think where that has come from is that there are institutions who have given us data on the students in their institution. I don't know the exact figure for University of Ibadan, but it is not uncommon for an institution to have uploaded tens of thousands of records. But, you know, in actual fact, only a small number have applied. And that happens for a variety of reasons. One, because people are not aware. Two, because people might be skeptical. They're not sure what it's all about. They might. Some even think it's not real. Government doesn't do anything for us. Why should we believe it now? Three is because sometimes they just, you know, the data is wrong.
Data Verification Challenges
You know, the metric number is wrong, or their, you know, their middle name is misspelled or their last name is misspelled. Because we're using an entirely data driven data cross checking process. If there's any error in the name. For example, if your names on Nin are different to your names on the matric number, it may not connect you as being the same person. So that's also played into it, not just at UI, but in other universities across the country because of various levels of data inaccuracy or data, or name variations, if you like. So, and then to the last question you asked around, is there a quota?
Loan Allocation System
I think you were sort of referring to, do we have a certain number allocated for this region and allocated for that region? Well, not really. And the reason I say that is because, you know, there are lots of people in this country who need this loan. If we say, oh, we've run out of loans for people at the University of Ibadan, but we have loans for people at the University of somewhere else that they haven't taken up, that we're just going to keep that in abeyance for them when we know there are people in other parts of the country who may need the loan.
Encouragement for Loan Applications
At this stage, we are giving these loans to people who really need them. The president wants everybody who wants it to get it. And at the moment we're getting a lot of support financially, a lot of political will. We have more money than we have requests for money at the moment. So we're just going to continue to encourage citizens, our young citizens, from the west, from the east, from the north, from the southe, to please apply because we're approving loans and where to another point where we're not able to approve a loan because something is wrong, where we've got channels where people are able to contact us to say, I've applied for my loan, I haven't had a result, please tell me what the position is.
Addressing Approval Concerns
And we're able to sort of give tentative indications. So for some institutions, for example, where we haven't quite approved the loans for one reason or the other, we are advising the institutions that the following students, because there's a deadline coming up and looming for them, for exams, for registration, we're advising the institution that we have a list here of individuals who have applied for the loan and are more than likely to get it, but please allow them to carry on because we will come back and actually pay on their behalf. I think it's the best we can do under the circumstances, because we've got to give our young people an opportunity to go and get the studies they need without being too harsh on them.
Commitment to Due Process
Even around our deadlines and our cut offs. What we will not compromise is our process for determination of how we disburse the funds, because we are disbursing public funds and we must make sure that those public funds are dispersed responsibly and with the minimum room or risk for fraud. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Bashanomo, you have the mic?
Concerns of Institutional Responsiveness
Yes, thank you so much. Sega. I greet the executive secretary of Nelson. My question is around the responsiveness level of universities that, I mean, institutions that are already covered and those that have not been, that have not yet been covered. Before I discovered this page, I made a tweet, you know, I made a tweet about oluseguagu University of Science and Technology in Okitipukwa in Nundo State. I personally know 25 students whose educational aspiration is currently hanging in the balance. And their last hope, you know, is actually this, you know, male fund scheme.
Hurdles Faced by Institutions
But unfortunately, the institution, the university as an institution has not done anything so, which as a result of them not taking proactive measure to send the data of their students to nail fund, the chances of these students are hanging in the balance. Their dream of getting quality education is hanging in the balance. So, sir, my question is, the system you have right now put the destiny of the student in the hands of, you know, the university. The university does not send their data to you. There is no way they can be captured.
Proposing a New Mechanism for Data Collection
Please, sir, is there a way that Nelson, under your leadership, can look beyond this? Because this current system is already sabotaging the chances and dreams of thousands of vulnerable students, like the 25 students that I know in university and Okitipupa in Olusaga University, is there a way we can develop like a mechanism where, you know, Nelson will have a license office in each of the universities? And this license office, we are an employee of Nelson taking all of these data and in less than 24 hours, when the student applying, they are being sent directly to your office, and then it has almost zero, you know, delay.
Enhancing University Processes
And also these universities will no longer be the one deciding the fate of the students, you know, whether they are to gain, whether they are to, you know, whether they are to be a beneficiary of the nail fund or not. This is my question. Thank you so much. Okay. Thank you very much indeed for your question. I think that the best way for me to sort of put this in perspective and I want to recognize that the 25 students that you've talked about are human beings with dreams, with hopes, with aspirations.
Acknowledgment of Student Aspirations
I don't want to be flippant at all about, you know, your comments about their fate, you know, hanging in the balance. And I want to pick up this conversation very specifically with that institution as soon as possible. So as far as I can see from the data that I have, that institution has not provided us with any data on any of their students. So unfortunately, it is impossible for their students to apply. We have the Federal University of Technology, Akure Adekune Adjacent University in Akumba, Akoko University of Medical Sciences.
Lack of Data from Institutions
We've got the federal Polytechnic elegy, the College of Education, Adeyemi College of Education, Federal College of Agriculture, Akure. We don't have that institution having provided us with data, so we're going to have to. This is, it's good that you flag this, because again, one of the issues we have is that some institutions simply haven't given us the data that we've asked them to give us, and it's disadvantaging their students because their students can't get access.
Proposal for Liaison Officers
Now, with regards to having desk officers or liaison officers, it's a great idea, and we are going to be to have liaison officers and desk officers across the institution. We've been going for 102 days, so, you know, this is in the next phase of our planning to ensure that we can have those people there. But of course, I need to remind you this is a non human intervention or direct human intervention program.
Maintaining Integrity of the Loan Process
So even with those desk officers there, we are not going to move to a manual process where somebody can say, if you give me money, I'll put your name, if you don't give me money, I won't put your name. We're never going to go down that line because we're just going to be creating new problems for our people. But I am going to specifically, after this call, instruct that we understand what is going on with university because we don't have data from them at the moment, and we have written and asked all institutions to provide us with their data.
Engagement for Solutions
I would like to connect with you personally, if it's possible, after this call, so that I can get clearer understanding of where you're coming from and how we can better help our students. It's absolutely critical that we deal with these sorts of issues that have come up. I think I may have answered your question, but if not, I'll be happy to connect with you at another time to deal with this question. And I want to use this opportunity to appeal to anyone who knows of any institution where students are trying to apply but can't get through because they just seem not to have any access through.
Call for Further Questions
We will help solve that problem. I probably got time for another couple of questions now, but I'm very happy to have questions funneled through to the moderator and then sent through to me so that we can answer the questions. And I'll be very direct in getting back to anyone who's got questions either in a written way or we'll call them to give them answers to the questions. So probably got time for another two questions or so.
Conclusion of the Session
Thank you very much. And if you see, if you are in the audience, you for coming and you still have questions that you want to send forward, you can leave it in the comment section and we will ensure that the questions are answered and you are notified. And also, if your question is such, if it has an easy, if it is more or less an emergency, send it through DM to myself and I'll forward it also to Nell fund on your behalf and also get back to you. We have just two more questions to go, and I hope it's going to be a bulletin kind of question so that we can release our CEO to attend to other matters.
Commitment to Ongoing Engagement
He will always an ongoing conversation. He will always be here. He always respond to us when we call. And there will be another opportunity for you to engage him. So let me go to Global African. You know, you were here before. Global African, are you there? Okay, Ayesha, you have the mic.
Appreciation for Insightful Engagement
Thank you very much for the enlightenment so far, and I really appreciate all you've been saying. Now, I have two questions. The first question is, what is the fate of national university students in assessing this loan? And secondly, why is it that monetary is not included in the loan process? Because so far I've heard of universities. And polytechnic have not heard anything about Monet. So what's their fate? Also?
Open to Applications from Students
Okay, thank you very much. So, the National Open University question. We are open, ready and willing to receive applications from national Open University students. We, of course, as part of our guidelines, stipulate that the courses that people are going to be given loans for have to be full-time courses and they have to have access to the institution via the jam route.
Expanding Support to Monotechnics
So if you are or anyone listening is at a National Open University doing a full-time undergraduate course, having accessed it through the jam route, they're welcome to apply. N o u n welcome to apply full time via the jam route. With regards to monotechnics and the fact that you haven't heard much about that, we are facing the program. We are actually empowered by law to support, through loans, those who want to improve their skills to a level where they are certified, whether they are electricians or tailors or tilers or mechanics or carpenters.
Future Plans for Monotechnics
We are going to roll that out as part of our next phase of this. And one of the reasons why we're having to face this is that when you're doing universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education using jam, and you've generally got a group of people there who are fairly well digitalized and documented, usually have Nin, they have BVN, they have a matric number. You know, it's quite straightforward compared to the next phase where, you know, they're largely less fortunate in terms of the educational opportunities they might have had.
Challenges with Access to Education
They're probably on a lower level of the ladder when it comes to upper opportunities to access funding generally, which means that many are not as financially buoyant. So they're also therefore missing in the financial inclusion space, often have no BVN. They generally may not even have Nin. They certainly don't have Jamden. And so using the system that we're running, which is designed to minimize the opportunity for ghost participants or for fraud, we're just being a little bit more careful about how we document these particular members of our society so that we can give them the best opportunity that we can.
Progress Towards Inclusive Funding
But that's the reason. And what we'll eventually get to that. You know, I think later this month we're going to run a pilot and then we'll be able to roll it out in a fully fledged way. So I appreciate the question, but again, with programs like this, you've got to have a very clear view on where you're going. And we know that, you know, it'd be ideal for us to help people out immediately.
Hope for Future Students
I just want to go back very quickly to the question of the previous question from the gentleman who asked about the 25 students. You know, we recognize that this thing is a hope, a lifeline for many people. We also know that it didn't exist last year and it didn't exist the year before. So now that we've brought it up, it has become a lifeline and it a line of hope. And we fully intend to give this to help people realize this hope, because too many hopes have been dashed in the past.
Conclusion and Gratitude
So thank you. Thank you very much, sir. I will be keeping my word by using you by 07:00 so that I can attend other things. So we extend our sincere gratitude to you for taking our time to engage with us and clarifying issues surrounding Nigerian education loan fund. Your openness, transparency and commitment to addressing our questions and concerns are truly appreciated.
Final Thoughts on Educational Initiatives
The insights you provided have helped shed light on the processes, the requirements and the objectives of this vital initiative allowing us to better understand its purpose and potential impact on improving access to quality education in Nigeria. Your acknowledgment of areas of improvement and openness to feedback demonstrates a genuine desire to ensure the program's success.
Appreciation for Engagement
Your passion for empowering Nigerian students through accessible financing is evident and reassuring. Thank you for your time sir, for the engagement. And yes sir, Mister Sega, please, before he goes. This is global African youth inclusion. I'm Ambassador Oshi Israel, I'm the global director.
Mobilizing African Youth for Open Governance
We are just simply mobilizing african youth for open governance and ours here is. To thank the nigerian government. It's a laudable project. We want to thank the nigerian government. For what they are doing for this student fund. Ours is to look forward to the efficiency of it. We're monitoring it in the continent. We pray that nigerian students will gain full access. Thank you very much. Thank you Mister Bachelor. Thank you so. Thank you very much. Global affiliate so thank you very much.
Comments and Acknowledgments
Yeah, thank you. May I just make one last comment? My comment is to thank everybody who has joined this space looking for answers, to apologize to those who may have questions but that I don't have time to take tonight because, you know, questions need to be answered really. And there are many questions that I know are playing on people's minds and I'd like to tell you, thank you Mister saga for organizing this and I would like to appeal to you that you should please collate any questions that haven't been answered and get them across to me as soon as possible. We will try to answer all the questions. I can't promise that the answers will be favorable for everybody because we have to follow a process that allows us to be responsible about how we do this and how we spend government funds or deploy government funds. But we will try to make sure that as many people as possible benefit from this. It's what the president wants and it's certainly what I want to deliver for the nigerian people, for nigerian students. So thank you so much.
Questions and Answers Procedure
You're welcome sir. Thank you very much sir. I. While he's taking his exit, I'm sure that one of his aides is going to still be around with us, you know, to take on some questions that he can take while we'll document the rest, and they will listen to the recordings and they will get back to us on those questions. And we'll also take note of those who ask the questions so that they can actually prefer the solutions to those questions by putting it on their own timelines, tagging us and tagging whosoever that must have. So I will want to honorably clear the stage. What I mean by that is to take the request that we have right now and ensure that I take down most of these questions and ensure that you get answers to them. So when you are called upon to ask your questions directly so that we can have it on record and then they can answer it as soon as they get it. So just rotate the mic, clear all the requests and then we know that we have all sent in our questions.
Managing Time During the Q&A
And then I will give you feedback on the response to those questions. So let's just make it brief. I don't want this to go too long, beyond 1 hour, 30 minutes, so that they can be able to have time to go through the recordings and then respond to us. So if that's okay by you. Mister Brian Mandela, you have the mat? Mister Ibrahim Adeleke, are you there? Yes, sorry. Yeah, Meg, could you please take that? Again, I missed some point. Yeah, I was saying that we're going to take questions, you know, so that we can have it on record. And while they are listening to the recording, they can be able to take, give the answers to those questions and include it as a response to this session. So that way you get your questions answered, you know, whichever way. So since you're already on stage, you would like to take the question if you have any question or contribution.
Appreciation for Efforts
Mister Brahm, are you still there? Okay, let's go to favored. Give me few minutes please. I'll be back. Okay. Okay, Mister Ibrahim, go on. Thank you so much. I'm just appreciating your efforts and that of Nelfont to carry Nigerians along as. The implementation of NELFUnd unfolds. Thank you so much for this effort. Now, my question possibly could have been asked because I joined late. So I. Pardon me if I'm asking questions that. Might have been asked earlier. So the question is basically, is Nelfon paying the actual tuition per student or there is this blanket rate that they pay on behalf of students to their schools. You see why I'm asking this question is in the loop of my organization where I work.
Clarifying Loan Details
There is this update flying around from. Someone like that claiming that the total amount, the funding does not exist, 105,000. The tuition, the main tuition and the. 20,000 for the monthly upkeep. So I must question to clarify that area. And also the update also added that the student cannot apply for the loan. In the following year if he or she is. And I would like, if you have. Now, I would like you to provide. Thank you. Thank you very much. Mister Brahm, as you rightly said, your question was answered in the previous responses of our guests. He answered those questions that Nelson pays fully the school fees of every applicant based on the charge of the individual schools.
Understanding Loan Stipends
And also, aside from that, once you have gotten that approved, you can also apply for stipends. You know that your upkeep, which will be paid for the next one year. So because the calendar year of every institution is not the same, it's not uniform, you cannot say that if what somebody has collected this year, somebody else cannot apply. But again, I hope that question is on record. If there's anything that is different from what you know is what was said before, he will also update that and then let you know. So thank you very much. Mister Brian favored, you have the mic. Yes, I'm back. Thank you, Mister Shega. I really appreciate your effort in bringing these people on your space.
Concerns About Student Affairs
And it's been a very educative session. I want to ask this question for the fact that the fate of the student is in the institution where they attend. So my worry is we know how some of these civil servants, how they behave and whereby you are just creating a new desk. You would possibly be having a kind of trial and error on the kind of personnel the VC or director will designate in those institution. You don't even know. Some of them may not be aware of what and what to do at some point. So situation whereby you send this data of the student to the next one and there are errors, definitely next one will send it back to the school.
Error Notification System
Is there a way the student could be notified? Maybe through text message or through email? I mean, and as in the process, every stage of the process of this student loan. So when you submit your application, can they be notified when it gets to, can they be notified then if there are errors? One or two things for them to adjust to include maybe the like Iraqi said the name may be different from what they have in the National Identity Management Commission data. So if you have such discrepancies and delays, is there a way the student themselves could be notified? So they will have to go back to the office in charge in their school, because we know if the nephew has sent this thing back to the school, the student may not even know.
Student Complaints and Monitoring
You will see them on social media complaining that they've applied, they've not gotten the money, and time is running out. Just like Basil said, some of them are really open on disbursement of this loan for them to be able to complete their education. So if there is a way through which the students themselves could monitor the process from the beginning to the end through notification, either text or email, I think it will help the student to know where their hope is being delayed. Thank you. Thank you very much. I think that's a very good suggestion. They will take it under advisement as well.
Improving Responsiveness
when he said that there's going to be going to create different desks in across, universities, though those desks are more or less for frequently asked questions and there about and for lies in it doesn't mean that they can change anything, because the way the institution was set up, it is meant to be to. It was designed to reduce human interferences. He has mentioned this also in his response, that this is not that somebody can actually twist or change or aid anything whatsoever. When in order to improve the responsiveness of the institution, of the project, you know, to the people, they will have license in different schools, so they can be able to clarify certain things on ground to say this is where the problem is.
Feedback Mechanism
But also, in addition to that, just like what you have said, I think a timeline, something that is digital, can be put on their website, so that when somebody who have registered for the loan, who logs into that website, he can see the status of his application, where the whole thing is, where his file is, where is, where the obstacle is, you know, it being indicated that waiting for school for so and so, or need problem or this, that also they can, the person will know their faith and know where to go from there, you know. So I think that is something that can be achieved technologically, you know, as a means of.
Data Management
As a feedback mechanism which can be put in place, you know, as. Because they deal with data and they have the data that they're dealing with as well, and they know where the issues are. So it's always good to put it on their own website, so that it will be when we come to spaces like this, that we're finding out that our institutions have not been responding to them. Why we are expecting that. We're looking for a lot. We do know that there is a problem with our institution, you know, so there are lots of factors that are responsible, you know, for all these breach in communication. But like you said, this contribution will be added to what they do something about.
Final Concerns and Suggestions
So thank you very much, Mister Fivo, and I will get back to Mister Mohammed Ahmed. You have been here for a while, Mister Mohamed Ahmad. Okay, yeah. My question goes like this, like accommodation. Fee, why is accommodation fee not included in the fees? And also, secondly, like my school has just increased its school fees with some of 50,000. Is there a way that the null. Form can include the fee? Like a way in which it can be edited and also like some students. Have already submitted their data, such as their account details, and there were some.
Local Information Dissemination
Let them come up with. Maybe come up Jingu or an herb in Ausa Igbo, Yoruba and pigeon ages the elect. This thing be sent to. The tacticist is like Oshuna. Oshuna has a kind of a radio that is very popular. That is, and the television is very popular. That that is 80% of the local people. We always listen to it. So at that moment, they can send that information down to that radio or that television that, okay, this is what is coming or what is going on at the federal level. So parents, if you have your children that you know that you cannot tell children to go and apply, everybody can visit to go apply. So that is what I think they can do on that level of information. So that is what I want to say. Thank you very much.
Challenges in Regional Response
Thank you very much. Like I said earlier on, it's always very difficult to say because institutions in certain region of the country have not been responsive. And because of that, it shows that part of the country have not been attended to. If we look at it from that angle, we probably will not get it right because there are people who are not schooling in the southeast who are from the southeast who have benefited from this program because their school, where it's located, they have been responsive and they've been able to give information to the initiative. So all those questions will be taken. Mister Adeibisi, Mister Adebisi, thank you. Thank you so much.
Social Media Engagement
Good afternoon everyone is. I listened to the space and it's very educative. I hope other government agencies will also be interacting with Nigerians on social media. I think that's the easiest way of passing message. I'm not saying they shouldn't be using NTA, but it seems majority of the information can be easily accessed or passed through social media. And also kudos to the president for this. Lord, if your idea, you know, very. I've not been able to find a way of putting that message across and I think this is a good avenue, you know, kudos to him. It seems to be a person that has good intentions for Nigeria. Yes, there are many challenges. That is you will have to surmount. But for me is touching what are very important for Nigerians to be able to move on. That's that one then for the southeast.
Verification and Application Process
We. I think we've. The data issue has been answered before. It seems maybe the VC's didn't get to submit their verification. If I recall that was what the Nell fund stated. Then they didn't get to submit those verification on time. And the nail fund will not just assume that you're a student because you applied and they will send you money. No, your school have to also. You have to also verify that for them, you know. And then that process will conclude. So you applying does not automatically mean you just show up and then you apply. There's no school backing, you know, the school has to also verify if the school is not verifying nothing the government can do. So I don't know where. How do they call that policy in Nigeria? Quota. Something will be applied to that. That one is not. You have to just apply and get your school to verify. That's that then.
Government Initiatives and Public Engagement
Sega, why to come up? I would like you to please bring the credit core. A young mandeh, do you know him? Yes. You know, like I said earlier on, all the presidential initiatives that are currently running from student loan to CNG, which I've already heard from, to consumer credits, renewed hope, cities, green imperative initiative infrastructure and Nimsi Afrika card, they will all be coming to engage with Nigerians. It's just that because of. Because most of them are. It's always very difficult for you to get them. They are they are in fact far worse than you can easily get a minister, than get these people because these are special presidential initiatives. These are the heart trouble, heartstrings of Mister president. Things he really wants to get done. And you know, it's like his gift to Nigerians to say, look, if while we are waiting for the ministers to do one thing or the other, these ones are your benefits, these are my promises, these are the things I promise to do and they must be done.
Credit Core and Economic Advancement
And so these people have meetings with the president. They are always in the his ears and he wants people them also to be in your ears. That's why we're having all this conversation. They must come and tell you what they are doing, answer your questions directly. There must not be, there must not be a gap between you and them. That's why we're having these ongoing conversations with them. So, yes, thank you. So why? Because that credit core is very important to springing up industries. Take for example if credit core is targeting, let's say Nigeria made cars, that, okay, we'll be giving you loan or based on Nigeria made cars. What that simply means it's not like people just only go take a cheaper loan and buy car loan.
Economic Growth through Local Production
However, it will create an industry in a nigerian car industry or boost that industry because more people be able to go and get that car, those Nigeria made cars, you know, and the industry behind that one will be able to produce more and thereby employ more people. So it's a cascade effect if you ask me, you know, so that's why I'm very keen on trying to know about that one. And then so that we can also know which area are they targeting? You know, are they targeting in car industry or mortgage or what are they targeting, you know, so that people can get those information. And then last but not the least, I also encourage people to stay off fake news media problem that I wanted to impact. This Nell phone was fake news.
Countering Misinformation
People carrying propaganda saying that this is a lie. And then you will just carry those information and you begin to run town instead for you to go and apply and test the system. You know, you are not doing that. You just assume that, oh, is APC propaganda. Then you run away and then you will not do what you need to do. And then after the whole process has been concluded, you now come back and you say, oh, be marginalized. No, nobody is marginalizing anybody. Test the system. This is a president that has worked in Lagos and people still testify of his capabilities. You know, so don't listen to propaganda. Don't listen to people that will lie to you because you want to. Maybe because they have 1000 followers, I mean 1 million followers.
Act on President's Policies
And all of those things. Don't listen to propaganda. Test the system. When the president is saying this, follow the president and follow Jamim people and all those people that work around the president. And anytime they release a policy, quickly apply. If it is targeted to your industry, quickly apply and take the opportunity. That's what I want to say. Thank you so much for the opportunity. Please let me get a follow back from you segaling thank you so much. Thank you very much. That's done. I always follow my speakers. So as a way, thank you very much for that.
Bridging Information Gaps
Let me just explain something about human psychology, especially on social media. See, the world we live in now is no longer the world where you see something in the newspapers. In fact, most of the young people don't read newspapers. We don't even watch the news. When I say young people, mine myself include inclusive. I don't watch the news. I don't read newspapers. You know, I'd rather see when I'm online, I see what is happening online. I see it based on the way people are interacting with it. And it makes me go and dig further if it's an important thing. And because I noticed that in our climb, our media are always seeking engagement and they will blow things out of proportion trying to.
Media Reporting and Public Perception
And the way we tell the news in Nigeria, we don't see the fact and allow people to make up their mind. We twist it in such a way that we tell them what to think. So that what to react to and how to react. So based on that, it will require an additional intelligence for you to able to know how to hold yourself and see sift through the garbage to be able to see what the actual news is. That's why we are bridging the gap with this kind of conversations. I believe that the only way to fight fake news is not to arrest everybody in the country that is spreading news from the WhatsApp group and every other places.
Engagement as a Solution to Misinformation
Naturally, when information comes out, people don't engage the information. What they engage is their reaction to the information by the people they trust. So those people are the filtration system that tells them what to feel about the policy. So for example, if we don't engage people and give them information or try as much as possible to educate them on what actually is, and we do that repeatedly, you will always have fake news because where there is absence of information, people will make up information. There are people who enjoy reading their own lies having been forwarded back to them, they see it as a means of proving to themselves that they are alive and they have relevance.
The Role of Government in Information Dissemination
So we are their victims and government will make them thrive if they don't give information the way people would rather have the information. Not everybody will catch the news, not everybody will read newspapers, and not everybody belongs to a free dance association or go to barbershop to discuss the news, or some of us will pick the news up through forwarded messages as received by people who got them and also through forwarded satiric response to those information. And that's why they are coming themselves to come and engage you. I know a lot of people have reservation for most of the ministers, even the political party, even the country as they were.
Importance of Political Engagement
But when you came here and you listened to Honorable Minister Fessos Keamu, regardless of what reservation you have about his person, about his politics, you appreciate the fact that he was made minister and is in charge of our aerospace because of his experience and because of the way he opened up to Nigerians and gave his account of stewardship. And the same thing goes for Dela Lake, Doctor Delalake and the rest of them. So, like I said, in politics, you don't really need to like anybody. We just want them to do their job, keep their promises to the nigerian people while we wait for the next election. That's as simple as that.
Unity and Collective Responsibility
So. And that's what I have dedicated my time for. Will never see me in rooms where we're talking about ego outside Yoruba. It's none of my business. Inasmuch as we are all human beings and citizens of Nigeria, you deserve to be heard, you deserve to be seen, your right desire to be protected, and you deserve to even hear your views about anything in this country, provided you are speaking to the facts, to whether you're also ready to accept data, empirical data, about what you're asking for, not holding on to what the lies have told you, and then fighting everybody else for holding on to facts that they can prove.
Building a Nation Through Engagement
So this is how we build a nation. We cannot all continue to be nihilists, we can all continue to be skeptics, cannot continue to be cynics, can all continue to be, you know, abusing everybody or demonizing everybody because they don't do what we want them to do. They don't go to our church or they don't belong to a political party that we like. We can't build a nation like that. We have to engage ourselves at the individual level and see what is working and then speak to things that are not working.
Appreciation for Participation
Let me use this opportunity to appreciate my co host who came late because something happened. Aji akam Kem, you are welcome to the space. The minister, the CEO and MD of Nelfon just left us for a meeting. He was here promptly by before 05:00 and he has shared his mind and taking some questions. He will still be here in the course of next week where we get ready for other people handling the presidential initiatives across different sectors of the economy. You're welcome.
Concluding Remarks
Your mic is still muted. Are you there? Okay. While I'm waiting for her to get a mic back and to return to the street. Waziriano, what? What is. Sorry, I think it's, What is owner? What is Anno. What is Anu? Yeah. Good evening. You're welcome. Yes, you can hear. You're welcome. Yes. Good evening, distinguished. I greet you most respectfully. Let me apologize for coming in. You know, some minutes behind schedule, that life happened.
Acknowledging Contributions
I had made up my mind to be here for six. I have listened to a bit of. The conversation and I don't know if. Our guest has come and gone yet. Yes, he has. He has been hearing a but it's fine. I want to first commend you for keeping the conversation alive. You are doing an amazing job, and it just shows the power of what citizens can do by themselves, especially citizens who are interested in a better country. Thank you to everyone who's tuned in.
Collective Responsibility Towards a Better Nation
Thank you to everyone who's making suggestions. Indeed, to have a better Nigeria is dependent on all of us. It's something that we must all put in the work. Regardless of how we feel about the government. The country is ours. And so let me just say, distinguished Sega, thank you very much for doing this. And once again, please pardon. Thank you very much and thank you for your support. Without you people supporting, without every Nigerian, you know, trying as much as possible to be part of the positive conversations who will not be here.
