President Bola Tinubu has announced that the implementation of student loan initiative will begin in January 2024, aiming to address the issue of incessant strikes and enhance access to higher education in Nigeria.
Tinubu, 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 a landmark move to celebrate June 12, President Tinubu signed the student loan bill into law, fulfilling his campaign promise.
The bill, initiated by the Speaker of the 9th House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, now Chief of Staff to the President, aims to provide interest-free loans from the Nigerian Education Loan Fund for indigent Nigerians seeking higher education.
These funds will be administered by the Ministry of Education and will exclusively benefit indigent students in tertiary institutions.
This decision follows President Tinubu’s recent repeal of the ‘no-work, no pay policy’ that was imposed by the previous administration on members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
The lecturers had staged an eight-month strike to highlight issues like inadequate funding of educational institutions.
With the introduction of the student loan initiative and the promise of no more strikes, President Tinubu seeks to bring about positive changes in the Nigerian education system.