President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has signed into law, the student loan bill, which provides for interest-free loans to indigent Nigerian students.
The bill which was sponsored by Gbajabiamila, Speaker of the 9th House of Representatives, makes provision for funds to be domiciled in the Ministry of Education and will only be accessed by indigent students of tertiary institutions.
The bill seeks to make access to higher education for Nigerians through interest-free loans from the Nigerian Education Fund established in this Act with a view to providing education for all Nigerians and for other purposes connected thereto.
It seeks 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.
The Act provides that notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in other enactments, all students seeking higher education in any public institution of higher learning in Nigeria shall have an equal right to access the loan under this Act without any discrimination arising from gender, religion, tribe, position or disability of any kind.
The loan referred to in this Act shall be granted to students only for the payment of Tuition fees. The grant of the loan to any student under this Act shall be subject to the students/applicant(s) satisfying the requirements and conditions set out under this Act.”
In keeping to his campaign promise, interest and quest in ensuring access to higher education, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signed the legislation that will guarantee access to quality higher education by qualified Nigerians.
Mr Dele Alake, a member of the Presidential Strategic Team announced that the bill has been signed into law on Monday, June 12.
When asked if the new law will not encourage inflation of school fees, Alake said the two situations are unrelated, adding that the idea behind the law is to help indigent students obtain education in the country.
He said;
“We are very happy to announce to you that today, just a few minutes ago, the President His Excellency, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, signed into law, the Student Loans Bill and that Student Loans Bill, you all know what it entails, what it connotes the meaning.
“This is the promise made during the presidential campaign by the then candidate, His Excellency, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, that he will bring back the student loans issue to the front burner and today, that promise he made has been kept, he has just signed that bill into law, which henceforth, will allow or enable our indigent students to access federal government loans to fund their educational pursuit or career and this is how it’s done in other developed climes all over the world”
