Barely 48-hours to its kickoff date, the Bola Tinubu-led government has postponed the launch of the Nigerian Students Loan Scheme indefinitely.
Akintunde Sawyer, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), stated this in an interview with AriseTV on Tuesday.
The loan which was formally slated to take off on Thursday, has been postponed again, as there are some corrections that are being made around the launch according to Sawyer.
“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.”
In June 2023, President Tinubu signed a bill to start a Students Loan Fund (SLF) that would give interest-free loans to Nigerians for higher education.
A former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, proposed the bill and it was supposed to start between September and October 2023.
Meanwhile, Tinubu said the programme would begin in January 2024, after missing the October deadline.
In January, Yusuf Sununu, Minister of State for Education, confirmed at the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, while speaking to reporters, that preparations were completed for the scheme to begin, including the finalisation 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) when they visited him at the State House that the scheme would begin once its expansion to accommodate extra features, including vocational studies, was done.
