In October last year when Nigerians began to ask questions concerning the much celebrated Student Loan Bill earlier signed into law on June 12, 2023 by the then newly-sworn in President Bola Tinubu, the man on whose table the buck stops came out categorically that the take-off date would be this January. “By January 2024, the new student loan programme must commence,” Tinubu had said. “To the future of our children and students, we’re saying no more strikes,” Tinubu added when he declared open the 29th session of the annual Nigeria Economic Summit at Transcorp Hilton, Abuja.
He said with the scheme, industrial action by staff unions of tertiary institutions would become a thing of the past.
And when it appeared that the January that was said to be the take off date was looking unrealisable and there was a lull concerning the loan scheme, the Federal Government last Wednesday insisted that the commencement date for the student loan scheme with plans for the timely access of students to the credit facility within 30 days was still intact.
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The Minister of State for Education, Yusuf Sununu, disclosed this while briefing State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council meeting presided over by President Tinubu at the Council Chamber, Presidential Villa, Abuja. Sununu also said that all was now set for the scheme to begin with the completion of the student loan scheme website and a conclusion on technical plans that would facilitate the kick-off of the scheme.
The Minister said the funds had been made available for the student loan scheme in the nation’s 2024 budget and the supplementary budget for 2023. According to him: “January is a reality for the commencement of student loan scheme in Nigeria. Already the website is almost done. Application for beneficiaries will be online, criteria for students to get admission is that you must be a Nigerian and find yourself in a public school and application is also online which will be processed timely, and you can access your loan within 30 days. Funds have been set aside in the 2024 appropriation act, as also the supplementary budget for 2023.”
Since that time, a flurry of activities have taken place to convince anxious Nigerian students and their parents that the Tinubu administration appears determined that the loan scheme has become a reality. On Monday this week, the Federal Government said the Education Tax under the Federal Inland Revenue Service would serve as one of the funding sources for the recently established Student Loan Scheme.
This was as it detailed the conditions that an applicant must meet to qualify for the loan. It said the scheme would be fully automated to ensure zero human involvement in the application and processing of the loans to applicants.
“That is why the education tax fund is one of the sources of funding that we will use to execute this programme,” said FIRS Chairman, Dr. Zacch Adedeji, when he addressed State House Correspondents after briefing President Tinubu on the impending launch of the scheme at the Aso Rock Villa.
Meanwhile, the Executive Secretary of the Scheme, Akintunde Sawyerr, who gave his first public briefing on the programme, said eligible applicants would route their requests through the loan app or website, affirming that the scheme would be devoid of human involvement. He itemised the application process, saying prospective candidates must avail their Joint Admissions and Matriculation Examination registration number, date of birth, National Identification Number and Biometric Verification Number, among others.
Sawyerr said: “The applicant will go on to a portal, or they will engage with the app. They will have to put in certain pieces of information that make them eligible, such as their JAMB number and, of course, the tie-in to their date of birth. Further pieces of information include their NIN, which confirms that they are Nigerians. This loan scheme is being paid for by Nigerian taxpayers. So, it’s for Nigerians and the NIN helps verify and qualify them as such. Their BVN is for financial inclusion because this scheme in itself will, at some point, be able to empower students, so we need to know they have bank accounts. We need to know where their accounts are to be able to access those accounts. It will also have their matriculation number and admission number so that we can firmly establish which institution they are going to because one of the key elements of this is that once we have received applications and those applications are approved, the fees or the tuition requirements in terms of financials will be transferred directly to the institution. That in itself has benefits for the institution.”
While likening the loan to a bridge linking the desire for further education and the funds to do so, Sawyerr explained that the FG was keen to ensure that young Nigerians do not fail to acquire tertiary education simply because they lack the funds. He said: “The intention behind it is to ensure that the reason for not being able to go on and further your education at a tertiary level is not for the lack of finance. This law seeks to bridge the gap between the desire to study and the capacity to go further. It seeks to bridge that gap that is created by lack of finance and funding.”
The Loan Chief explained that the scheme would enable Nigerians to pick a career trajectory of their choice rather than being forced into other paths because they were unable to acquire vital education. He also affirmed that the loan would help to stem the dangerous journey undertaken by Nigerian youths across the Sahel to Europe in search of a better life.
Sawyerr added: “Some of the opportunities provided by the scheme include enrolling intending students in teacher training programmes and vocational skills. The programme provides opportunities for Nigerian students who want to go into the academic and get a university degree or perhaps want the technical side and acquire some vocational skills and also in the teacher training space. This intervention will affect the lives of many Nigerian youths because that’s usually the bracket to further their education. It will enable us to intervene and support families, particularly the needy.” The Executive Secretary disclosed that the school fees for successful applicants would be transferred directly to their institutions.
Also commendable is the expansion of the scheme by President Tinubu, who, on Monday, directed the management of the Nigeria Education Loan Fund to extend interest-free loans to Nigerian students interested in skill-development programmes. This followed the briefing from Sawyerr on the build-up to the launch of the programme later in the month. Tinubu based his decision on the need for the scheme to accommodate those who may not want to pursue a university education, noting that skill acquisition is as important as obtaining undergraduate and graduate academic qualifications.
He said: “This is not an exclusive programme. It is catering to all of our young people. Young Nigerians are gifted in different areas. This is not only for those who want to be doctors, lawyers, and accountants. It is also for those who aspire to use their skilled and trained hands to build our nation. In accordance with this, I have instructed NELFUND to explore all opportunities to inculcate skill-development programmes because not everybody wants to go through a full university education.”
President Tinubu emphasised the need for equity and inclusivity in the management of the programme, stating: “No matter how economically challenged you are, accredited and qualified students will and must have access to this loan to advance their education in higher institutions. There is no compromise in our commitment to the disadvantaged citizens of this nation.”
Now that President Bola Tinubu has practically put his hand to the plough as far as the students loan scheme is concerned, there must be no going back. There must be no more delay.
Either it was coincident, nearly all the universities have increased their fees since the new administration of the Tinubu presidency brought up the issue of the student loan scheme. So, the scheme would go a long way in mitigating the burden of the increased school fees across the universities nationwide.
Many Nigerian parents are in dire straits, especially since the removal of the petrol subsidy by the present administration. Their plates are more than full in terms of surviving challenges. So they would gladly seize the opportunity of the loan scheme to see their wards through tertiary institutions and eventually break the chain of poverty.
When the student loan scheme issue came up, it met very stiff opposition from the teaching staff of Nigeria’s higher institutions such as the Academic Staff Union of Universities and Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics. ASUU described the loan bill as discriminatory between the children of the rich and the poor.
ASUU President, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, said: “The union will react soon but everyone knows our position on student loans because you will end up encumbering the children of the poor with loans and debt after graduating. This is discriminatory. “If what I read online is correct, it said it is only for children whose parents earn less than N500,000 per annum. That means if your father earns more, you won’t benefit.”
Similarly, the National President, ASUP, Anderson Ezeibe, said: “I have not studied the bill and we don’t want to react on the surface. But I have seen one area that will not be practicable. It says that students should refund the money two years after NYSC. But what is the provision for someone who is not working after NYSC? And will they all get jobs immediately after NYSC?”
But now that the government appears set to kick off the scheme, we will appeal to the academic staff community to give the scheme a chance. Of course, there may be some hiccups here and there, as it is being implemented but as it begins to have a life of its own, all the teething and seeming imperfections would take shape.
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