Finally, succour came the way of undergraduates in tertiary institutions as President Tinubu on Wednesday signed into law the revised student loan bill, also known as the Access to Higher Education Act (Repeal and Re-Enactment) 2024.This brings to an end, the back and forth in the implementation of the loan scheme which was the first
Finally, succour came the way of undergraduates in tertiary institutions as President Tinubu on Wednesday signed into law the revised student loan bill, also known as the Access to Higher Education Act (Repeal and Re-Enactment) 2024.This brings to an end, the back and forth in the implementation of the loan scheme which was the first bill signed into law by President Tinubu upon his assumption of office.
The president signed the bill into law at the State House in Abuja in the presence of key stakeholders in the educational sector, including the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio; the Deputy Senate President, Senator Jibril Barau; the Minister of Education, and other relevant personalities.
This development comes after the Senate and House of Representatives evaluated the reports of the committee on tertiary institutions and TETFUND on the feasibility of President Tinubu’s newly revised methodology for implementing the student loan scheme sent last month. The lawmakers passed the bill after the committee completed the required gaps.
Speaking after signing the bill into law, President Tinubu stated that the essence of the development is to ensure adequate education for all Nigerians, regardless of their backgrounds and upbringing.
He also added that the bill will also serve as a mean to fight against poverty in the country. “I have just signed a bill proclaiming the student loan effectively. First of all, I must thank members of the National Assembly for their expeditious handling of this bill considering the children of Nigeria, that education is the tool to fight against poverty effectively”, he said.
“We are determined to ensure that education is given the proper attention necessary for the country including skills development programmes. This is to ensure that no one, no matter how poor their background is, is excluded from quality education and opportunity to build their future.
“We are here because we are all educated and were helped. In the past, we have seen a lot of our children drop out of colleges and given up the opportunity.
“That is no more, the standard and the control is there for you to apply no matter who you are as long as you are a Nigerian citizen.”
In the meantime, the new bill states that accredited tertiary and vocational education institutions in Nigeria provide loans to Nigerian tertiary students who meet the requirements, covering the cost of tuition, fees, other charges, and maintenance.
It also eliminates the need for guarantors and the family income threshold as qualifying requirements, and student applicants can no longer be denied based on their parents’ loan history.
Recall that on June 12, 2023, the President signed the previous student loan bill (Acess to Higher Education Act 2023) into law to afford indigent students access to free loans in their respective tertiary institutions. Despite being one of the president’s renewed hope campaign promises during his campaign for president, the development drew criticism from Nigerians who decried the scheme’s conditions.
As a result, the federal government postponed implementation in order to address the gaps in the scheme, prompting the president to propose another bill to lawmakers that would address the scheme’s loopholes. The President then wrote to the lawmakers, urging them to approve the new bill in order to provide accommodations for individuals who might not pursue tertiary education, emphasising the importance of skill development in addition to earning undergraduate and graduate degrees.
