The Nigerian Students Loan Scheme’s introduction has been indefinitely delayed by the Federal Government. This was revealed on Tuesday by tunde Sawyer, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund.
A bill creating a Students Loan Fund, which would provide interest-free loans to Nigerians for higher education, was signed into law by President Bola Tinubu in June 2023.
The measure was sponsored by Femi Gbajabiamila, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, and it was scheduled to begin in September or October of 2023. While this was going on, Tinubu announced that the program will start in January 2024, having missed 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.
Also, Tinubu told leaders of the National Association of Nigerian Students that the programme would start once they added more features, like vocational studies.
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.
