Even the worst of President Bola Tinubu's critics will admit that he has proved to be a man on a mission. Within two weeks of assuming duty, he has removed subsidy on fuel causing the price to rise by over 150 per cent. He has announced the unification of FX window putting an end to multiple exchange rates; suspended the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission , and signed into law the Student Loan Bill, among others.
Tagged"Access to Higher Education Act, the law makes provision for interest-free loans to indigent Nigerian students. It is also available to all students seeking higher education in any public institution in Nigeria provided they meet the criteria for qualification. The loan according to the document in public space is only for the payment of Tuition fees.
To be eligible, applicants must have secured an admission into any tertiary institution either federal or state. This could be universities, polytechnics or colleges of education. The student must also come from a family with an annual income of less than N500,000 and provide at least two guarantors who must either be civil servants above Level 12 or a lawyer with at least 10 years post-call experience.
Students are disqualified from applying if they have defaulted in any loan before; have proven case of exam malpractice; ever been convicted for any offense of dishonesty or fraud; convicted for drug abuse; or their parents have any history of previous default on any loan. Likewise, the Universal Basic Education Commission has been sustained over the years despite being funded solely by two per cent of Nigeria's Consolidated Revenue. In fact, UBEC has so much money in its kitty that it is always begging state governments to come and access it. The management of the commission recently lamented that about N110bn of the intervention funds for thehad yet to be disbursed in 2023.