President Bola Tinubu will launch the Student Loan Scheme on Thursday, March 14, 2024.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Ajuri Ngelale, disclosed this when he spoke on TVC’s Politics on Sunday.
On the programme titled ‘Counting the Cost of Presidents Tinubu’s Reforms,’ Ngelale highlighted some of the President’s welfare initiatives being implemented at the moment, saying, “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,” he added.
On June 12, 2023, Tinubu signed the Access to Higher Education Act, 2023, into law to enable indigent students to access interest-free loans for their educational pursuits in any Nigerian tertiary institution.
The move was in “fulfillment of one of his campaign promises to liberalise funding of education,” a member of the then Presidential Strategy Team, Dele Alake, said.
The Act, popularly known as the Students Loan Law, also established the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, which is expected to handle all loan requests, grants, disbursement, and recovery.
The government initially said it would take effect in September, but it did not.
However, Tinubu had insisted that the scheme would go live in January 2024. Declaring the 29th session of the annual Nigeria Economic Summit in Abuja open on October 23, 2023, the President said, “By January 2024, the new Students Loan Programme must commence. To the future of our children and students, we’re saying no more strikes!”
He proposed N50bn for its take-off in the 2024 budget he presented to the National Assembly last November.