By Adesina Wahab

The National President of the National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, Comrade Lucky Emonefe, lauded President Bola Tinubu for appointing Mr Jim Ovia as the Chairman of the Board of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, NELFUND.

In a statement on Saturday, he described the choice of Ovia as putting a round peg in a round hole.

“The national leadership of the National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, is happy with the choice of an accomplished banker and business guru, Mr Jim Ovia, as the Board Chairman of NELFUND. Mr Ovia has not only distinguished himself as a great and successful banker, but he is also a good manager of men and resources.

“He is surely fit for the job of helping to reposition the education sector and providing the finances for Nigerian youths to go through tertiary institutions. He is also involved in the education sector where he has set up schools including a university and knows what it takes to run one and to attend one too.

“The National Student Loan Programme is a pivotal intervention that seeks to guarantee sustainable higher education and functional skill development for all Nigerian students and youths.

“The Nigerian Education Loan Fund, the implementing institution of this innovation, demands excellence and Nigerians of the finest professional ilk to guide and manage.

“Mr. Ovia will bring his immense wealth of experience and professional stature to this role to advance the all-important vision of ensuring that no Nigerian student suffers a capricious end to their pursuit of higher education over a lack of funds and of ensuring that Nigerian youths, irrespective of who they are, have access to higher education and skills that will make them productive members of society and core contributors to the knowledge-based global economy of this century.”