BREAKING: Presidency Announces Date Tinubu’s Govt Will Launch Student Loan, Details Emerge

• President Bola Tinubu will finally launch the student loan scheme on Thursday, March 14, 2024
• According to the presidency, the initiative is a key strategy to alleviate financial burdens for Nigerian families and youths
• Legit.ng recalls that in June 2023, Tinubu signed the Access to Higher Education document, an act that gives indigent students access to interest-free loans

Legit.ng journalist Ridwan Adeola Yusuf has over 9 years of experience covering education and scholarship opportunities in Nigeria and worldwide.

FCT, Abuja - President Bola Tinubu will on Thursday, March 14, launch the highly anticipated student loan scheme.

According to the presidency, the scheme will put an end to industrial actions in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions.

In an interview with TVC on Sunday, March 10, Ajuri Ngelale, the presidential spokesperson, stressed the importance of the scheme as a key strategy to alleviate financial burdens for Nigerian families and young individuals, particularly during challenging economic times.

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He said:

Later this week, on Thursday, the President will launch the historic National Student Loan Programme.

This is a major form of obligation reduction for Nigerians and families and young people at a time when Nigerians are feeling the pinch. We believe this is the way to go.

In June 2023, Tinubu signed the Access to Higher Education Act. The Act gives indigent students access to interest-free loans.

The president proposed N50 billion for its take-off in the 2024 budget he presented to the National Assembly in November 2023.

Tinubu believes that with the education bank in place, Nigerians willing to attain higher education qualifications can afford fees that the schools may soon introduce.

Sections of the Students’ Loan Act create an Education Loan Fund, with its funding to be drawn from “one per cent of all profits accruing to the federal government from oil and other minerals; taxes, levies and duties accruing to the federal government from the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Nigerian Immigration Service and Nigerian Customs Service, as well as education bonds, education endowment fund schemes, donations, gifts, grant, and revenue accruing to the fund from any other source.”

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Read more about student loan in Nigeria

• Student loan: How can I apply, what can I borrow and when do I pay it back?
• FG finally sets date for students’ loan take off, announces recovery time
• “The website is almost done”: FG gives new update on student loan, how beneficiaries can apply

Student loan: Tinubu criticised

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Nigerian students and parents were left disappointed by the federal government headed by Tinubu over the delayed launch of the student loan scheme.

This came after assurance from FG that it would commence disbursement of the education loans in January 2024.

Anticipated as a new chapter in accessible education by indigent students, persistent delays have overshadowed the loan, leaving aspiring students and their families uncertain after it failed to meet the January deadline.

Source: Legit.ng