Abuja, Aug. 6, 2024 – The Democratic Front (TDF) has said that the student loan scheme of the Tinubu administration compares favourably with some of the historic policies introduced in the 1960s to encourage education in some parts of the country.
This, according to the group, is because the target beneficiaries of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) are indigent students across the country who may have been deprived the maximum expression of their enormous potentials.
In a statement signed by its Chairman Mallam Danjuma Muhammad and Secretary, Chief Wale Adedayo, TDF said the commencement of disbursement of funds under the scheme is most pleasing, encouraging and gratifying.
“The disbursement of N2.026 billion to six tertiary institutions for the payment of school fees as well as the release of upkeep allowance directly to the beneficiaries heralds a new dawn in the development of education in Nigeria.
“Ever since the historic policy of free and compulsory education in the then Western Region by the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, and the mandatory scholarship award policy by late Sir Ahmadu Bello in the Northern Region back then in the 1960s, no other government has taken this kind of bold and deliberate step to better the lot of indigent students as the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration has done.
“This unprecedented move became reality when President Tinubu made the education loan bill the priority of his presidency and the first executive bill of his administration.
“For us, the speed with which he also had expanded the scope of the programme to include vocational centers, and the promptness of his accent to the bill reflected his passion and resolve to give the underprivileged, the opportunity to access education in tertiary institutions without financial encumbrances.
“When the present administration embarked upon economic reforms through the removal of fuel subsidy and the unification of exchange rates, many misunderstood the action, not envisaging that the policy was meant to free up funds for pro-people schemes like this. The first disbursement should have cleared all doubts.
“The momentous response of over two million indigent students who applied for the education loan, and the subsequent release of over N2bn to six tertiary institutions, have proven that President Tinubu’s ongoing economic reform is not a fluke.
“In view of the explicable nexus between illiteracy and poverty in Nigeria, TDF is happy to note that the students from poor homes will be exposed to the same benefits as those from rich background.
“The scheme will drastically cut down on illiteracy induced poverty. At no time is this being directly catered for by government policy in Nigeria, like now.
“It is universal knowledge that quality education is expensive all over the world. The inability of the poor to afford the cost of education, particularly at the tertiary level, determines the poverty level of any nation.
“This is why developed countries of the world have established the policy of education loans to enhance the intellectual capacity of their various nations with which they grow their GDP and economy.
“We, therefore, see the President’s actions in this regard as a courageous step to boost Nigeria’s wealth and secure the nation’s future because the children of the poor would no longer have their potential ability curtailed and confined within the limit of primary and secondary education.
“We join the leadership and members of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) and other youth organizations in the country to happily welcome this novel and remarkable decision by the President to create NELFUND for the benefit of the indigent students
“We also, we call on all stakeholders in NELFUND to work holistically for the success of the policy, by rallying round President Tinubu to attain the peaceful and stable socioeconomic and political purpose that it was meant serve,” it added.
The group said the President’s decision to allocate N50 billion from funds recovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to the fund it shows his readiness to ensure more Nigerians benefit from the scheme. (GBN)
