What You Should Know About Students Loan Bill Signed By Tinubu
Posted by Ahmed Iyanda | one year ago | 1,844 times
Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu has signed into law the student loan bill on Monday, establishing an education bank that will provide interest-free loans to Nigerians pursuing higher education.
According to Dele Alake, one of Mr Tinubu's aides, the president assented to the bill and expressed his support for its objectives.
The bill, which was sponsored by the outgoing Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, was initially introduced in 2016 as part of efforts to address funding gaps in Nigeria's tertiary education subsector.
In a recent development, Mr Gbajabiamila has been appointed as the Chief of Staff to President Tinubu. He is scheduled to assume office on Wednesday, one day after concluding his tenure as the speaker of Nigeria's green chamber.
The bill is titled; “An Act to Provide Easy Access to Higher Education For Nigerians Through Interest-Free Loans From Nigeria Education Bank Established in this Act with a View To Provide Education for All Nigerians and for Related Matters.”
It would be recalled that Tinubu, in his manifesto as the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, promised to pursue the establishment of the education bank towards enhancing access to quality education at the tertiary level.
“We will institute a pilot student loan regime…this will expand access to education to all Nigerians regardless of their backgrounds,” he wrote in his manifesto, Renewed Hope. “At the same time, this will give institutions the ability to charge more cost-reflective tuition fees. Because of the current employment rates and other conditions, the loan program will have a maximum limit any student may borrow and must have flexible repayment provisions.”
Facts to know about the student loan act:
1. The Act provides an interest-free loan for indigent students in which beneficiaries will only pay back the exact amount they collect.
2. The Act offers loans for poor students seeking higher education in public universities, polytechnics and colleges of education in the country.
3. The Act enables all indigent 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 loan shall be accessible to only indigent students studying within Nigeria and it’s for the payment of tuition fees alone.
5. The Act states that there shall be the creation of a Nigerian Education Bank with the aim to offer education for all Nigerians in matters pertaining to loans.
