The Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has restated its unwavering commitment to transparency, accountability, and an integrity-driven service culture as it took the spotlight at the 2025 Gani Fawehinmi Impact and Integrity Award Lecture. The event was held on Wednesday, December 10, 2025, at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Lagos.
The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of NELFUND, Mr. Akintunde Sawyerr, served as the Special Guest and Award Lecturer. He was represented by the Fund’s Director of Strategic Communications, Mrs. Oseyemi Oluwatuyi, who delivered a lecture titled:
“Education, Integrity and the Future: Laying the Foundation for an Equitable and Sustainable Nigeria through Accountability and Access to Opportunities.”
This year’s event aligned with the 2025 Human Rights Day theme: “Our Rights, Our Future, Right Now,” and convened stakeholders dedicated to promoting transparency, integrity, and youth empowerment across the country.
Other NELFUND officials present included Folayemi Ogunniya, Senior Manager, Strategic Communications; Nasir Ayitogo, Technical Assistant to the MD; Yomi Gbadamosi, Personal Assistant to the MD; and Cecilia Ogwuche, Deputy Manager, ACTU.
Organised by the Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA), the annual lecture celebrates the legacy of the late Chief Gani Fawehinmi, a champion of justice and accountability.
In his lecture, Mr. Sawyerr emphasized that integrity remains the “bedrock of public trust,” highlighting that NELFUND’s operational framework was deliberately designed to eliminate human interference, favoritism, and institutional bottlenecks in the delivery of student loans.
He explained that NELFUND’s nationwide operations run on a fully transparent digital system that ensures beneficiaries are selected through an automated and merit-based process accessible across all states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
“At NELFUND, integrity is not an option; it is a mandatory standard. Every process—from application to approval—is transparent, traceable, and anchored on fairness. This is our contribution to strengthening public institutions and rebuilding citizens’ confidence in government reforms,”
Mr. Sawyerr stated.
He further noted that by December 2025, NELFUND had successfully onboarded hundreds of tertiary institutions and processed loan applications for hundreds of thousands of students without a single case of manual interference—a milestone he said reflects the very purpose for which the Fund was established.
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