President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in a statement has described his time working time in the United States as a young man and linked those experiences to his administration’s student loan programme.
President Tinubu stated that after arriving in the United States he drove a taxi to raise money for his education and postponed starting school for several months in order to save enough funds. He said that once in Chicago he took on different jobs to support himself and pay his way through university, covering tuition, accommodation and living expenses.
Tinubu, in a post on his X handle on Wednesday, said; “When I first arrived in the United States as a young man. I drove a taxi to earn money for my education. I even had to postpone starting school for several months to save enough”.
He noted that those experiences have remained with him and that he understands the pressure of managing education costs while studying.
President Tinubu added that education created opportunities in his own life and that he believes Nigerian children should have similar access regardless of where they are born or their parents’ financial situation.
He cited his background as one reason education is a priority for his administration. According to Tinubu, NELFUND has provided over N372 billion in student loans for institutional fees and upkeep to help young Nigerians remain in school.
President Tinubu also disclosed that the government’s technical and vocational education programme had attracted more than 2.8 million applications, while 38 technical colleges had been rehabilitated.
According to him, students in federal and selected state technical colleges now benefit from free school fees, boarding, textbooks and uniforms.
He said his administration had reached a new agreement with the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, providing for a 40 percent increase in academic staff renumeration and measures to improve stability in the country’s universities.
He noted that government was committed to ensuring that students completed their courses within the stipulations period.
President Tinubu also added that over one million children who were previously out of school had returned to learning, while his administration was investing in teachers development, expanding educational opportunities for girls and implementing a new nation curriculum that restores Nigerian history to classrooms
-9News Nigeria.
