NANS disappointed as FG suspends student loan take-off

The National Association of Nigerian Students said it has lost hope in the Federal Government Education Loan Scheme, as the government again announced further suspension of the scheme on Wednesday.

The scheme, whose take-off has been repeatedly postponed, was billed to be inaugurated today (Thursday) by President Bola Tinubu.

The Federal Government, however, said on Wednesday that the inauguration had been further postponed for four weeks.

While reacting to the development, the Senate President, NANS, Afeez Akinteye, told The PUNCH “Many Nigerian students have lost hope in the loan. Some even believe it will not work again. But we, the executives of NANS, are optimistic because we are closer to the government and asking them questions.

“We are not happy about the delay. We have been monitoring and following up on what is happening. As of Monday last week, they told us they would launch it on Thursday but late on Wednesday, they told us some items on it were not functioning, there are some hitches around it.

“The advice we gave them was to perfect it instead of rushing the unveiling. We are meeting the Executive Secretary tomorrow (Thursday) and with the seriousness of the President, we believe it will work out. It is already in the budget so the financial aspect is not a problem.”

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

Meanwhile, Tinubu said the programme would begin in January 2024, after missing the October 2023 deadline.

Also commenting, the National President, Academic Staff Union of Universities, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, advised the FG to convert the loan to scholarships, grants, or bursaries, saying there were no jobs in Nigeria for quick repayment.

He added, “Our position has been made know we don’t believe it will work because it has been there in the past, it didn’t work out. If they have compassion for the young boys and girls of this country, it should be converted to bursary, grant, or scholarship not loans because there is no job in this country.”

On the contrary, the Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, Sonny Echono assured that the launch of the loan scheme had only been postponed for a couple of weeks and not indefinitely.

Echono said the delay in the launch was only to make sure that there were no complications in the proper implementation of the scheme, adding that they wanted to ensure the scheme was up to standard.

Echono’s clarification followed the announcement by the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, Akintunde Sawyer who said that the unveiling of the scheme had been suspended indefinitely.

Sawyer during an interview with Arise News TV said the loan scheme was postponed due to some corrections that were being made.

“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 roll this out in a meaningful, comprehensive, wholesome, and sustainable way,” he said.

However, speaking in Abuja, Echono said, “The loan has not been postponed indefinitely, there’s just a little housekeeping that needs to be done, the president has arrangements in place for the launch.”

“We are discussing in a matter of days, maximum weeks for it to take off. The president is very committed to this, and I can assure you that this is going to be done in the best way.”

“We don’t want to hurriedly launch the programme.”

“We are making sure that the loan can accommodate as many that need it. Even for people with skills, it is going to be a game-changer. We are working hand in hand with JAMB, we know when admissions will commence, so we are not far behind.

The post NANS disappointed as FG suspends student loan take-off appeared first on 36ng.