13 May 2023
Respite has finally come to several parents and students of tertiary institutions as President Bola Tinubu signed into law the student loan bill in fulfillment of a promise he made during his campaign.
Spokesperson to the Federal Government Dele Alake made the announcement on Monday.
Alake said the funds will be domiciled in the Ministry of Education and will only be accessed by indigent students of tertiary institutions.
1. The Act provides an interest-free loan for indigent Nigerian students in which beneficiaries will only pay
The Act will enable indigent students to access federal government loans to fund their educational pursuit or career.
Here are the benefits of the Students Loan Act to Nigerians:
1. The Act provides an interest-free loan for indigent Nigerian students in which beneficiaries will only pay back the exact amount they collect.
2. The Act offers loans for indigent Nigerian students seeking higher education in government-owned universities, polytechnics and colleges of education in the country.
3. The Act enables all indigent Nigerian students to have equal rights to access the loan without any form of discrimination arising from gender, religion, tribe, position or disability of any kind.
4. The Act states that the loan shall be given to indigent Nigerian students only for the payment of tuition fees.
5, The Act stipulates that there shall be the establishment of a Nigerian Education Loan Fund with the objective to provide education for all Nigerians in matters pertaining to loans:
Here are the requirements that indigent Nigerian students will meet to be eligible for the Students Loan:
1. The student applicants applying for loans under the Act shall apply to the Chairman of the Bank through their respective institutions upon satisfaction of the following conditions.
2. The student applicants must have secured admission into any of the Nigerian universities, polytechnics, colleges of education or any vocational school established by the Federal Government or the government of any Stale of the Federation.
3. The student applicants’ income or family income must be less than N500,000 (five hundred thousand naira) per annum.
4. The student applicants must provide at least two guarantors: each of the guarantors must be a civil servant of not less than level 12 in the service; or a lawyer with at least 10 (ten) years post-call experience; a Judicial officer; or a Justice Peace.
The student loan bill sponsored by the Speaker of the 9th House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, which provides for interest-free loans to indigent Nigerian students, passed the third reading at the House, two weeks ago.
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.
“Youths are the greatest asset of tomorrow,” he said.
“The education system is to change. We would overhaul it and tinker with some areas with the philosophy that no one would be left behind. There will be student loans for all. We are going to reform the Almajiri system, We are equally going to build more schools, recruit more teachers and train them.
“Youths can even develop technological languages on their own and make a better 21st-century approach to governance in Nigeria.”
