By Abiola Olawale
The launching of the much anticipated Nigerian Students Loan Scheme may not happen anytime soon as the Federal Government announced that it has been postponed till further notice.
The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, Akintunde Sawyer, made this known during an interview with Arise News on Tuesday.
Sawyer said the loan won’t commence on Thursday as initially scheduled due to some corrections being made regarding the launch.
He said, “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.”
The New Diplomat reports that President Bola Tinubu, in June 2023, signed a bill to establish a Students Loan Fund that would provide interest-free loans to Nigerians for higher education.
The bill, sponsored by the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, during his time as the Speaker of the House of Representatives, was initially scheduled to commence between September and October 2023.
President Tinubu announced that the scheme would commence in January 2024 after his government failed to meet the October deadline the previous year.
In January, the Minister of State for Education, Yusuf Sununu, announced during a meeting that preparations for the program had been completed. This included the development of the Student Loan Scheme website and planning for the program’s commencement.
