Chidimma Uchegbu
The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) to commence roll out of multi-purpose Government-to-People (G2P) cards to students for enhanced access to loan and administration.
The MoU for the groundbreaking initiative was signed by the Managing Director of NELFUND, Akintunde Sawyerr and Director-General of National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Engr. Abisoye Coker-Odusote alongside the Managing Director of Data Mining Company, Mr Femi Akande at NELFUND headquarters on Friday in Abuja.
The National Identity Number (NIN)-enabled G2P card is payment enabled and allows students to access their upkeep loans directly without necessarily waiting for banks as they could use the card to access different electronic services including point of sales (POS), automated teller machine (ATM) and web payment among others.
In his brief remark, the NELFUND Managing Director, Akintunde Sawyerr described the MoU as a groundbreaking event to drive financial inclusion, promote transparency and accountability through the deployment of Government-to-People Card.
He expressed the commitment of NELFUND management to the project, adding that the MoU would open a new vitsa for Nigerian students to access loans seamlessly using multiple wallets as facilitated by the biometric-enabled card from NIMC.
Sawyerr highlighted immense support of NIMC to the success being recorded in the administration and disbursement of loans to students by providing essential identity verification services.
“I’m impressed with the work NIMC is doing, without NIMC NELFUND literally cannot function,” he said.
He commended President Bola Tinubu for rolling out socio-economic programmes that would change the narratives for Nigerian students, saying the Renewed Hope Agenda of the administration would have far reaching positive impacts for Nigerian students.
Director-General of NIMC, Engr Abisoye Coker-Odusote, in her part, explained that the biometric-enabled cards are parts of products from NIMC to drive digital and financial inclusion and ensure that every single beneficiary of government services (loans) have verifiable identity.
She added that the biometric-enabled cards have multiple wallets for students and could be used online and offline to access loans and other services.
Speaking further, the NIMC boss said the cards would also make it possible to track loans disbursement and ensure they are used for the purposes intended, noting that it would promote transparency, accountability and eliminate unnecessary bureaucracy.
“The biometric-enabled cards is unique in promoting digital and financial inclusion because of the layers of features in them. They cannot be forged or faked.
“They have features that make cash available in students wallets..the students can easily access their allowances, buy books and make transfers without waiting for banks. The cards operate online and offline,” Coker-Odusote said.
