Students loan scheme, ‘political ambush’ to increase tertiary institution school fees

The Nigerian students’ loan scheme has suffered many policy somersaults and it has become crystal clear that it was used as an ‘political ambush’ to increase tertiary institution school fees and stop any form of subvention from government to tertiary institutions. Now that President Tinubu has asked the Senate to repeal and re-enact the Access to Higher Education Act, 2023, otherwise known as the Students Loan Act, it appears that Nigerian students whose school fees have been increased without recourse to revert it in the absence of the loan since September 2023 when new academic session commence may be waiting for the proverbial tale of ‘waiting for Godot’ writes Editor Gentechnews, Tony Nwakaegho.

 

The Nigerian students loan scheme has been in limbo because it appears to have been used as an ‘political ambush’ to increase tertiary institution school fees and stop any form of subvention from government to tertiary institutions.

Gentechnews recalls that the ​2022 Student Loan Act was sponsored by Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, the immediate past speaker of the House of Representatives, but the bill was rejected by former President Buhari before he left office. This bill was passed by the 9th National Assembly and ought to have been returned like other rejected bills to the 10th National Assembly for fresh scrutiny, but Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, the immediate past speaker of the House of Representatives and the current chief of staff to the president used his position to make the president sign it into law.

Now the chicken has come to roost as the flaws that led to the earlier refusal to sign the bill into law has come to the fore as President Tinubu has sent the 2022 Student Loan Act back to the national Assembly to be repealed and reenacted.

The question on every lip now is that it was an aberration to have hiked the school fees without first giving out the loan to students. Now many students don’t have money to pay their new fees and have dropped out of schools.

Although the 2023 Student Loan Act was signed into law recently, with presumably good intentions, the provisions of the act do not reflect the reality of the intended beneficiaries—students from lower-income-earning families.

President Tinubu declared in a video from the 2015 presidential election campaign,  that “we will give student loans and for our (school) programmes, four years will be four years.”

He also repeated this during the build-up to the 2023 Presidential election. He effectively signed the bill within the first two weeks of his administration. Shortly after the bill was signed into law, the Ministry of Education announced that the Federal Government ‘can no longer foot the bills for universities,’ a move representing the beginning of the end of tertiary educational subsidies in the country. All tertiary institutions, Federal, States and private nationwide began to increase their school fees as well as hostel fees. This development led to protests by students from one school to another. However, the protests did not make any responsible impact as the management of some institutions only remove a little amount from whatever was increased.

Meanwhile, National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has said it has lost hope in the Federal Government Education Loan Scheme, as the government again announced further suspension of the scheme on Wednesday.

While reacting to the development, the Senate President, NANS, Afeez Akinteye told PUNCH “Many Nigerian students have lost hope in the loan. Some even believe it will not work again. But we, the executives of NANS, are optimistic because we are closer to the government and asking them questions.

“We are not happy about the delay. We have been monitoring and following up on what is happening. As of Monday, last week, they told us they would launch it on Thursday but late on Wednesday, they told us some items on it were not functioning, there are some hitches around it.

“The advice we gave them was to perfect it instead of rushing the unveiling. We are meeting the Executive Secretary tomorrow (Thursday) and with the seriousness of the President, we believe it will work out. It is already in the budget so the financial aspect is not a problem.”

In June 2023, President Tinubu signed a bill to start a Students Loan Fund that would give interest-free loans to Nigerians for higher education.

Meanwhile, Tinubu said the programme would begin in January 2024, after missing the October 2023 deadline.

The National President, Academic Staff Union of Universities, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, has severally advised the Federal Government to convert the loan to scholarships, grants, or bursaries, saying there were no jobs in Nigeria for quick repayment.

Prof. Osodeke added, “Our position has been made known, as we don’t believe it will work because it has been there in the past, it didn’t work out. If they have compassion for the young boys and girls of this country, it should be converted to bursary, grant, or scholarship not loans because there is no job in this country.”

On the contrary, the Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, Sonny Echono assured that the launch of the loan scheme had only been postponed for a couple of weeks and not indefinitely.

Echono said the delay in the launch was only to make sure that there were no complications in the proper implementation of the scheme, adding that they wanted to ensure the scheme was up to standard.

Echono’s clarification followed the announcement by the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, Akintunde Sawyer who said that the unveiling of the scheme had been suspended indefinitely. However, speaking in Abuja, Echono said, “The loan has not been postponed indefinitely, there’s just a little housekeeping that needs to be done, the president has arrangements in place for the launch.”

“We are discussing in a matter of days, maximum weeks for it to take off. The president is very committed to this, and I can assure you that this is going to be done in the best way.”

“We don’t want to hurriedly launch the programme.”

“We are making sure that the loan can accommodate as many that need it. Even for people with skills, it is going to be a game-changer. We are working hand in hand with JAMB, we know when admissions will commence, so we are not far behind.

“In the next couple of weeks, the scheme will take off, and it will accommodate everyone, even students of vocational studies.”

Sawyer during an interview with Arise News TV said the loan scheme was postponed due to some corrections that were being made.

“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 roll this out in a meaningful, comprehensive, wholesome, and sustainable way,” he said.

Nigerians have been taken aback by the comments from the Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, Sonny Echono and the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, Akintunde Sawyer as President Bola Tinubu has returned the bill which  ab initio ought to have returned to the National Assembly having been denied assent by the former President Buhari and President Tinubu has asked the Senate to repeal and re-enact the Access to Higher Education Act, 2023, otherwise known as the Students Loan Act.

Tinubu’s letter came during Thursday’s plenary, a day after the announcement of a temporary suspension of the commencement of the student loan programme.

The law was enacted to give Nigerian students ample opportunity to enroll in tertiary educational institutions to obtain low-interest loans in order to complete their education.

The Bill which was signed by President Tinubu in June 2023 was expected to be launched on Thursday March 14, but was put on hold indefinitely by the Federal Government.

The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, Akintunde Sawyer, made the disclosure during an interview with Arise News on Tuesday.

He said, “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.”

The criticisms levelled at the qualifying requirements for applicants, repayment plans, and governance structure following the law’s signing may have some bearing on the president’s decision to return the Student loan Act to the National Assembly.

The President’s letter which sought an expeditious consideration of the bill read: “Pursuant to Section 58 (2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), I forward, herewith, the Student Loan (Access to Higher Education) (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bill, 2024 for the kind consideration of the Senate.

“The Student Loan (Access to Higher Education) (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bill, 2024 seeks to enhance the implementation of the Higher Education Student Loan Scheme by addressing challenges related to the management structure of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELF), applicant eligibility requirements, loan purpose, funding sources, and disbursement and repayment procedures.”

Following this request, the Senate read the bill for the first time and subsequently passed it for a second reading.

The Leader of the Senate, Opeyemi Bamidele (APC, Ekiti Central) who presented the bill on the floor of the Red Chamber noted that the bill will ensure to provide loans to qualified Nigerians to pay tuition, fees, charges and upkeep during their course of study in approved tertiary education institutions and vocational and skills acquisition institutions in Nigeria.

“The bill will build, operate and maintain a diversified pool of funds to provide loans to qualified applicants and ensure access to higher education, vocational training, and skills acquisition.

“It will ensure the recovery of all debts due to the fund from loans granted to qualified applicants, except where the Board is of the opinion that a loanee should be exempted from repaying his loan by reason of death, considerations of hardship or equity and impossibility or undue difficulty, or the expenses to be incurred in the recovery of the loan being far more than the amount sought to be recovered,” he said.

Supporting the passage of the bill, Senator Victor Umeh (LP, Anambra Central) expressed his concern over the challenges that most Senators face in trying to create funds for their constituents to gain access to a proper education.

“Most of us who are in this Chamber, will agree that most of the pressure’s errors received from our constituents is centred on the need to get proper education but lack the funding.

“So, most times we are overburdened by creating funds to support these young children. I know the pressure I see from young people.

“This is a very noble thing to do in Nigeria, it is done everywhere across the world, America and the UK. Students get access to loans to fund their education and when they graduate, they start paying back,” Senator Umeh added.

On his part, Senator Sani Musa (APC, Niger East) opined that a percentage from bank charges be deployed to the student loan fund to ensure sustainability.

Senator Anthony Ani (APC, Ebonyi South) lamented that a major challenge facing the Nigerians over the years has been lack of education.

Senator Ani said, “One of the problems Nigerians have been having over the years is lack of funds and that is why you see some persons, children and adults out of school, simply because, no funds.”

The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio however, emphasised that President Tinubu’s request was to repeal and reenact the bill in line with the vision, strengthen implementation and ensure sustainability in the programme.

“A lot of children have been lured into criminalism, banditry and other vices, maybe as a result of poverty or circumstances.”

Following the support of this bill by all Senators, it was put to a voice vote and immediately passed for a second reading, Akpabio said.

According to the latest global data on out-of-school children by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in 2022, Nigeria has about 20 million out-of-school children,

UNESCO, which says a new and improved methodology was used to arrive at the latest figures, said there are “244 million children and youth between the ages of 6 and 18 worldwide (who) are still out of school.”

According to the statistics, India, Nigeria and Pakistan have the highest figures for out-of-school children globally. The figures in Nigeria have oscillated between 10.5 million and around 15 million for more than a decade, with the situation growing worse due to the degenerating security situation in the country.

The question on every lip stem from the fact that the education pursuit of many Nigerian students is in limbo as many have joined the league of out of school children as they continued to wait for the student loan like the proverbial tale ‘Waiting for Godot’ from September 2023, may be ad infinitium. What remains as a jaw saw puzzle is that schools have hiked their fees, no student loan and nothing is being done to revert the school fees to the status quo. Only time will tell as Nigeria’s out of school children may continue to rise and the society will be worst for it.