Tinubu Dashes Students’ Hope, Postpones Loan Launch Indefinitely

The launch of the Nigerian Students Loan Scheme has been postponed by the Federal Government indefinitely.

This was made known by the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, Akintunde Sawyer, during an interview with ARISE NEWS on Tuesday.

Osun Defender reports that President Bola Tinubu in June 2023, signed a bill to start a Students Loan Fund that would give interest-free loans to Nigerians for higher education.

The bill was proposed by a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, and it was supposed to start between September and October 2023.

After missing the October deadline, Tinubu said the programme would begin in January 2024, after missing the October deadline.

In January, Minister of State for Education, Yusuf Sununu, said at a meeting that preparations for the program were finished. This included making the Student Loan Scheme website and planning how to start the programme.

However, barely 48 hours before the launch, Sawyer said the loan scheme was postponed due to some corrections that were being made around the launch.

“Unfortunately, I won’t be able to commit to a specific date. We are sort of waiting to ensure that all the stakeholders are aligned to make sure that nobody is blindsided, then we can actually roll this out in a meaningful, comprehensive, wholesome and sustainable way,” he said.