Tinubu Signs Students’ Loans Bill into Law

•It’ll guarantee indigent students access to education, says Alake 

•Nigerian Students Loans Board  first established in 1972 and in 1993

Deji Elumoye in Abuja

President Bola Tinubu has signed the Students’ Loan Bill into law, in fulfilment of one of his promises to liberalise funding of education in the country.

But analysts have pointed out that this was not the first time the country would be having a legislation on students’ loan.

The signing of the new law was made known to newsmen, yesterday, by a member of the Presidential Strategic Team, Mr Dele Alake.

According to him, the new law is a fulfilment of one of the electoral promises of the President Tinubu.

Asked if the new law will not result in increase in school fees, Alake said both situations are unrelated, adding that the idea behind the law is to help indigent students to be able to 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”.

According to him: “So this is a boom to our youths, to our students nationwide. Of course, there are prescribed qualification parameters and that is the proof of indigeneship of whoever is to be a beneficiary and other prescribed parameters will be there.

“Of course, there are committees to be set up, the members of committees drawn from various bodies to superintend over the efficient and proficient disbursement of this facility”.

When asked for the time frame for the law to take effect, he explained that the bill takes effect immediately, but the procedures are what the committees will superintend over.

Also commenting on the new law, the Permanent Secretary in the federal ministry of education, David Adejoh, stressed that “what the President has done goes beyond a symbolism, it’s a demonstration of intent in terms of how he wants to handle education as he progresses in his Presidency.

“Like somebody asked about procedures, once the bill has been signed, that is the most important thing. A bill tells you what should be done, the how it will be done is what we’re going to put together and the good luck is that we have experience already in this area. We already have the Federal Scholarship Board Scheme running.

“The difference this bill makes is that it’s going to be a loans board so that people that don’t have whatever reason, don’t qualify to be able to apply for a loan. I’m very sure the country has learned from recovery rates of loans and the experience we had will be able to guide how this federal students loans board will work.

“I want to congratulate the President and most importantly, congratulate us Nigerians because what we have now is that nobody should say money did not allow him to go to school. That opportunity will be there, it will be inclusive and it will be equitable”, he said.

The new law which was sponsored by the immediate past Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, among others, states that, “the loan referred to in this Act shall be granted to students only for the payment of tuition fees.”

“The granting of the loan to any student under this Act shall be subject to the students/applicants satisfying the requirements and conditions set out under this Act.”

Meanwhile, analysts have pointed out that the Nigerian Students Loans Board was first established in 1972 and in 1993, an Act to establish the Nigerian Education Bank to approve and disburse loans for educational purposes and for matters connected therewith, was also signed into law, wondering why a new legislation in 2023.

“Laws are not always our problem in Nigeria. I don’t think this is viable and implementable,” the President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, said in a recent interview on Arise News Channel, noting that the high unemployment rate in the country remains a challenge.

“The first thing a lender worries about is the source of repayment of a loan. You are lending students money to get an education without knowing whether they would get a job. Therefore, I I don’t think lending money to students works anywhere. There is no point lending and giving debt forgiveness. I believe a much more viable action is to give scholarships and grants,” the chief executive, Financial Derivatives Company Limited, Bismarck Rewane, had also said.

He, therefore, advised that funds that would be saved from subsidy removal should be channeled towards the education sector.

Also, Taiwo Oyedele, of PwC, expressed doubt, “whether students’ loans would be a viable action today.”

He identified data and identification management, among others as challenges the initiative might encounter.