IT was a great relief to many, including students, parents and lovers of education generally when the news broke that President Bola Tinubu signed the Student Loans Act 2024 into law. Those who have been following my antecedents know the very high premium that I put on education. Education is the catalyst to all round development through which one can overcome ignorance, tribalism and poverty.
Thus, the government was mainly responsible for the failure of the bank to carry out its statutory duties. In this respect, the White Paper stated as follows: Last year the Student Loan Act 2023 was enacted to provide relief to Nigerian students. The Students Loans Act, 2024 is an Act that repeals the Student Loans Act 2023, and enacts the Student Loans Act 2024 to establish the Nigerian Education Loan Fund as a body corporate to receive, manage and invest funds to provide loans to Nigerians for higher education, vocational training and skills acquisition, and for related matters.
I am of the firm view that student loans should be available to all students to pay for university tuition, books and living expenses. It is to me discriminatory and unjust to exclude students in private higher institutions from benefiting from the loan. c. Would citizens who graduate from private universities not contribute to the development of Nigeria? This week, a student who studied Chinese in ABUAD and who is now a Director of a Chinese Company in Nigeria brought the Consul-General of China in Nigeria and 10 others to discuss vital issues of cooperation between Nigeria and China in Education, Science and Industry.
In ENGLAND, students of private universities and colleges have access to student loans. There is, however, a maximum loan amount which students can get for tuition fees at a privately-funded university or college per year. Some courses at privately-funded universities and colleges may cost more than this maximum.