The Federal 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 ARISE NEWS.
Recalled that in June 2023, President Bola Tinubu signed a bill sponsored and proposed by former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, to start a Students Loan Fund that would give interest-free loans to Nigerians for higher education which 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, Minister of State for Education, Yusuf Sununu, said at a meeting that preparations for the program were finished. This included making the Student Loan Scheme website and planning how to start the programme.
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Also, Tinubu told leaders of the National Association of Nigerian Students that the programme would start once they added more features, like vocational studies.
However, the Federal Government on Tuesday, March 12th, 2024, announced that President Bola Tinubu will on Thursday launch the highly anticipated student loan scheme.
Moreso, barely 48 hours before the launch of the loan which was formally and officially slated to take off on Thursday, which according to Sawyer said the loan scheme has been postponed indefinitely 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.”