Federal Gov’t Postpones Launch Of Student Loan Scheme Indefinitely

The Federal Government has postponed the launch of the much-anticipated Nigerian Students Loan Scheme indefinitely.

The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, Akintunde Sawyer, made disclosed this during an interview with the Arise News monitored by our correspondent on Tuesday.

It would be recalled that in June 2023, President Bola Tinubu signed a Bill to start a Students Loan Fund that would give interest-free loans to Nigerians for higher education and those engaged in vocational skills development.

The immediate-past Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, sponsored the Bill and it was supposed to start between September and October 2023.

However, 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 programme had been concluded. This included making the Student Loan Scheme website and planning on how to start the programme.

Also, Tinubu told leaders of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) few weeks ago 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 stated.