President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Monday signed the Student Loan Bill into law, to provide a financial cushion for indigent students to access higher education.
A brain-child of former House of Representatives Speaker and Chief of Staff to the President, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, the law provides for the establishment of an education bank.
The bill envisaged to provide interest-free loans was passed by the national assembly in November, 2022.
Tinubu had during his campaigns, promised to make provisions for students loan scheme to support education.
Conditions for accessing the loan, currently trending on social media are as follows:
▪︎ Applicant must have secured admission into any public Nigerian University, Polytechnic, COE or TVET school;
▪︎ Applicant income or family income must be less than N500,000 per annum;
▪︎ Applicant must provide at least two civil servants as guarantors: of not less than level 12 years in service; or a lawyer with at least 10 years post-call experience; a judicial officer; or a Justice of Peace.
▪︎ Students who have defaulted in previous loans; found guilty of exam malpractices, felony, drug offenses will not be considered.
▪︎ Students with parents who have defaulted in respect of previous loans will not be considered.
▪︎ All applications will be submitted through the Students Affairs Office of each institution via a list of all qualified applicants from the institution accompanied by a cover letter signed by the Vice Chancellor or Rector or the head of the institution and the student affairs.
▪︎ Any beneficiary of the loan to which this Act refers shall commence repayment two years after completion of the National Youth Service Corps programme. (Repayment shall be by direct deduction of 10% of the beneficiaries salary at source by the empioyer.
▪︎ Where the beneficiary is self employed, he shall remit 10% of his total profit monthly to the Students loan account to be prescribed by the Bank.
Meantime, Gbajabiamila, has commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for signing the Student’s Loan (Access to Higher Education) Bill, 2019 into law.
Gbajabiamila said the future of the country had just been guaranteed and strengthened with the new law as no Nigerian child would be denied access to tertiary education on account of lack of financial resources.
According to Gbajabiamila, who sponsored the bill, President Tinubu has shown enough determination and empathy with Nigerians to deliver good governance, considering the people-oriented and life-changing legislation he has signed into law within the short period of his assumption of office.
Gbajabiamila noted that the hardship being faced by the unemployed and low-income earners, coupled with the very high cost of living in Nigeria over the years had made access to quality higher education difficult, stressful and in some cases, impossible.
He also stated that a well-educated citizenry was critical to national development and our nation’s ability to compete in the global economy, arguing that higher education should be regarded as a public good benefiting the entire country rather than a commodity solely benefiting the individual recipients.
The legislation provides for the establishment of the Nigerian Education Fund, domiciled with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from which qualified applicants can access education loans through the commercial banks in the country.
Gbajabiamila, who is the Chief of Staff (CoS) designate to President Tinubu, said the assent to the bill by the President was a testimony and an indication of a smooth legislature-executive relationship in his tenure as President.
“When the actions of the President are viewed critically and without prejudice, it is reassuring that Nigerians are bound to enjoy good governance if the Legislature and the Executive will continue this symbiotic relationship that has brought massive change into governance within such a short period in the life of this administration.
“While I congratulate Nigerians on this new feat, I will equally implore our indigent youths to maximize the advantage of the new law that will enable them to chart the future they crave for themselves”, he added.
Gbajabiamila however noted that considering the patriotic steps and decisions made so far by the President, Nigerians should keep supporting and praying for the President in his strides to bring to bear good governance for the benefit of the greater majority of Nigerians
