*Urges Support for Tinubu’s Re-election
The Deputy National Leader (Southeast) of the Renewed Hope for Greater Nigeria (RHGN), Mazi Franklin Ngoforo, at the weekend received a delegation of students union leaders from tertiary institutions across the Southeast, shortly after a meeting with the Honourable Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Dr. Bernard Mohammed Doro. Addressing the student leaders, Ngoforo charged them to take back to their various campuses the message that the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), introduced under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is available, functional, and accessible, insisting there was absolutely no reason for any Southeast youth to be denied tertiary education on account of parental poverty.
Ngoforo told the students that the currency of the present era is quality education, noting that the world now operates within a digital and knowledge-driven economy where access to learning determines a people’s competitiveness. He said Ndigbo have historically believed in the liberalization of knowledge as a foundation for collective prosperity, a philosophy he traced from the traditional Igbo apprenticeship system to the region’s more recent breakthroughs in digital innovation. According to him, President Tinubu’s NELFUND policy aligns squarely with this Igbo appetite for knowledge, and has effectively removed poverty as an excuse for anyone to be denied access to quality education.
However, Ngoforo expressed regret that reports from some heads of tertiary institutions indicated that students from the Southeast were not measuring up in accessing the NELFUND scheme to better their circumstances, and charged the student leaders to carry the message to every campus and community across the zone. He also urged students to think beyond employment after graduation and position themselves as job creators and innovators, pointing to the billions of naira the Federal Government has disbursed through the Bank of Industry and the Bank of Agriculture to provide young people with the capital needed to start businesses. He described this as being in tune with the Igbo entrepreneurial spirit, designed to unlock the full potential of the region’s youth.
Ngoforo further stated that the Tinubu administration demonstrates a clear understanding of what it takes to build a robust, sound, and economically viable society, expressing confidence that the future of the Igbo nation and its youths remains bright under such leadership. He, however, cautioned the student leaders to be wary of those who might attempt to sway them along tribal or religious lines as the 2027 elections approach, reminding them that students have historically been agents of societal progress who align with forces of advancement rather than parochial political interests seeking to profit from division. He therefore urged them to support President Tinubu’s reelection bid in 2027, to enable him complete the work he has started.
Responding on behalf of the delegation, its leader, Comrade Nelson Obi-Okafor, thanked Ngoforo for his time and his consistent dedication to educating the public on the policies and programs of the Tinubu administration. He assured that the delegation would carry the message to students and the wider society, describing President Tinubu’s intervention as significant for having lifted the burden of school fees off the shoulders of indigent students.
The engagement with the student leaders forms part of RHGN Southeast’s widening grassroots outreach, coming on the heels of the group’s inauguration of Campus and Market Wings across the zone, as well as its recent engagements with Pentecostal clergy in Awka and traders at Ariaria Market in Aba, all aimed at consolidating support for President Tinubu ahead of the 2027 general election.
