President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has directed that the new Student Loan Scheme he signed into law earlier in the year should take off fully in Nigeria by January 2024.
Tinubu said this in Abuja on Monday at the 29th Nigeria Economic Summit, organised by the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning.
At the event, Tinubu further assured Nigerians that government-owned tertiary institutions in the country would no longer go on strike.
“Nigerians are feeling the short-term negative impact of our reforms, but we promise that everyone will soon enjoy the benefits,” the president said.
On June 12, 2023, Tinubu signed into law the student loan bill in fulfillment of a promise he made during his campaign.
The former spokesperson to the Federal Government (FG), Dele Alake, while making the announcement, said the funds will be domiciled in the Ministry of Education and will only be accessed by indigent students of tertiary institutions.
The law is to provide easy access to higher education for indigent Nigerians through interest-free loans from the Nigerian Education Loan Fund.
Tinubu at one of his campaigns at the British Royal Institute in London, promised to give student loans as part of efforts to develop the education sector and also build the youth capacity. (Guardian)