President Bola Tinubu has said the implementation of the student loan scheme will begin in January 2024.
Tinubu, who was speaking at Abuja during the National Economic Summit 2023 on Monday, assured Nigerian students that the era of incessant strikes will be a thing of the past.
“By January 2024, the new student loan must commence. To the future of our children and students, we are saying no more strikes,” he said.
In celebration of June 12, President Tinubu signed into law the student loan bill, a promise he made during his campaign.
The bill, sponsored by the Speaker of the 9th House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, now Chief of Staff to the President, provides easy access to higher education for indigent Nigerians through interest-free loans from the Nigerian Education Loan Fund.
The funds for the programme will be domiciled in the Ministry of Education and will only be accessed by indigent students of tertiary institutions.
Monday’s move comes days after Tinubu waived the ‘no-work, no pay policy’ imposed by the previous administration on members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
The varsity lecturers had embarked on an eight-month strike to press home their demands including poor funding of schools.
At Monday’s event, Tinubu also demanded improvements to the welfare of the legal system and civil service.
The president acknowledged the pain caused by the subsidy effect while pointing out that these reforms will eventually pay off.
“We have felt the pain of these reforms; soon we shall begin to reap the rewards,” he added.
“If you don’t change and plan the welfare of your judiciary and you ask them to be fair — render justice with passion with a hungry stomach. New and affordable homes will also be built at a record pace, I assure you.”