The launch of the Nigerian Students Loan Scheme has been indefinitely postponed by the Federal Government.
- The launch of the Nigerian Students Loan Scheme has been indefinitely postponed by the Federal Government.
- The Students Loan Fund (SLF) was created to revolutionize access to higher education by providing crucial financial support to Nigerian students.
- It was postponed as some corrections are being made around the launch.
This development was announced by Akintunde Sawyer, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), in an interview with ARISE NEWS.
According to Sawyer, the N10 billion loan, which was originally scheduled to take off on Thursday, was postponed again, as some corrections are 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.
The controversial Students Loan Fund
President Bola Tinubu signed the bill into law in June 2023, establishing a Students Loan Fund (SLF) to revolutionize access to higher education by providing crucial financial support to Nigerian students.
The FG initially proposed allocating N5.5 billion for the education loan fund. However, after facing criticism, especially regarding another N5 billion allocated for a presidential yacht, which caused public outrage due to calls for reducing the overall cost of governance, the government decided to reallocate the funds. The amount was added to the student loan section, thus increasing it to N10 billion.
The programme was originally scheduled to commence between September and October 2023. However, the program's launch faced delays, and President Bola Tinubu announced a revised start date for January 2024 after missing the initial October deadline.
In January, Yusuf Sununu, the Minister of State for Education, confirmed during the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, while speaking to reporters, that preparations had been completed for the scheme to begin.
This included the finalization of the Student Loan Scheme website and the conclusion of technical plans to facilitate the scheme's kick-off.
President Tinubu assured the leaders of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) during their visit to him at the State House, Abuja, that the scheme would begin once its expansion to accommodate additional features, including vocational studies, was completed.
