By Ken Chiwendu
President Bola Tinubu has ordered the disbursement of Student’s loan to deserving students seeking tertiary education beginning from the next academic session in September 2023/2024.
The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, David Adejo, announced this while speaking with newsmen in Abuja on Wednesday.
Adejo disclosed that the president had approved the committee comprising the ministries and agencies adding that they are expected to meet on June 20.
“The president has also directed that by September to October of this 2023/2024 academic session, he wants to see recipients of these loans. So, it is a very serious march for us. So between now and then, we have to phantom the process for people to get the loan.”
The President had Monday signed into law a bill making available to Nigerian students interest free loans to pay their tuition fees.
The Student’s Loan Bill was sponsored by former Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila in 2016. It was passed by the National Assembly late May 2023..
The legislation has as its short title, the ‘Students Loan (Access to Higher Education) Bill, 2019,’ While its long title is ‘A Bill for an Act to provide for easy 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.’
The Bill 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.
