Reactions As FG Postpones Students Loan Indefinitely

Heated reactions have been sparked up across social media following the announcement by the Federal Government of an indefinite postponement of the launch of the Nigerian Students Loan Scheme.

Akintunde Sawyer, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), announced this in an interview with ARISE NEWS.

The loan which was formally slated to take off on Thursday, has been postponed again, as there are some corrections that are being made around the launch according to Sawyer.

“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.”

Recall that President Bola Tinubu signed the bill into law in June 2023, to establish a Students Loan Fund (SLF) to provide interest-free loans to Nigerians seeking higher education.

The bill, sponsored by Femi Gbajabiamila, the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, was initially planned to kickstart between September and October 2023.

President Tinubu announced the scheme would begin by January 2024, after his Government failed to meet the October deadline last year.

In January, Yusuf Sununu, Minister of State for Education, confirmed at the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, while speaking to reporters, that preparations were completed for the scheme to begin, including the finalization of the Student Loan Scheme website and the conclusion of technical plans to facilitate the scheme’s kick-off.

President Tinubu assured the leaders of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) when they visited him at the State House, Abuja, that the scheme would begin once its expansion to accommodate extra features including vocational studies was done.

Following this development, Nigerians took to their X official handles to react. See some reactions:

skyrex@ said, “@renoomokri that defended tinubu’s policy, haven’t you heard that the small 5b student loan has been postponed indefinitely and I know you will have something to say about that. Abi you are defending sheepishly?”

ÓJÓKA(God said it) said “They squandered billions upon billions. They have traveled round the world with taxpayers money. Akpabio has padded the budget with 3.7T naira. They sponsored haji with more than 5B. Renovated terrorist house with 7B But ordinary 5B for the ordinary citizens, dey said NO.”

Dr. Joseph Erionguru said, “Relax! Jaganban will fix Nigeria. 7 years and 4 months to go.”

ch@rlez asked humourously, “Are you not entertained?”

@0…said, “What benefits the masses is not always important to this government. If it is to approve impromptu budget for yacht now, you will see them there.”

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