Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu will on February 21 launch the Student Loan Scheme, giving effect to the Access to Higher Education Act, 2023 which he signed into law in June 2023.
On that day, the President will also unveil the website and mobile app for the loan scheme and thus pave the way for Nigerians students who want the loan to start applying.
The loan, which is open to all Nigerian students in the country’s higher institutions, with a flexible repayment plan starting from two years of earning an income after National Youth Service, comes as a fulfilment of President Tinubu’s election promise.
Tinubu, during the campaigns ahead of the 2023 presidential election, had promised to implement a students’ loan scheme that will ensure that indigent students do not stop their education as a result of lack of funds.
On assumption of office in May last year, he signed the Access to Higher Education Act, 2023 into law on June 12 to enable indigent students to access interest-free loans for their educational pursuits in any Nigerian tertiary institution.
The Act, popularly known as the Students Loan Law, also established the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, which is expected to handle all loan requests, grants, disbursement, and recovery.
When the student loan scheme was signed into law, the Tinubu government had initially said it would take effect in September 2023. However, after it missed that date, Tinubu said the scheme would commence in January 2024.
“By January 2024, the new Students Loan Programme must commence. To the future of our children and students, we’re saying no more strikes!” Tinubu said in October while declaring open the 29th session of the annual Nigeria Economic Summit in Abuja.
To give effect to this, President Tinubu proposed N50 billion for the take-off of the scheme in the 2024 budget he presented to the National Assembly last November.
The Minister of State for Education, Dr Yusuf Sununu, also reiterated on January 17, while addressing State House Correspondents after a Federal Executive Council meeting, that January was a reality.
“January is a reality. Already the website is almost done. Application for beneficiaries is going to be online…and you can access your loan within 30 days,” he said.
On January 22, after he received a briefing from a team led by Sununu, President Tinubu directed the fund to extend interest-free loans to Nigerian students interested in skill-development programmes.
“This is not an exclusive programme. It is catering to all of our young people. Young Nigerians are gifted in different areas,” Tinubu said.
“This is not only for those who want to be doctors, lawyers, and accountants. It is also for those who aspire to use their skilled and trained hands to build our nation.
“In accordance with this, I have instructed NELFUND to explore all opportunities to inculcate skill-development programmes because not everybody wants to go through a full university education,” he said.
