On Monday, June 12, 2023, the
President, Bola Tinubu, signed into law the Student Loan Bill. The bill, which
will enable Nigerian students to have access to interest-free loans, was
introduced by the outgoing speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi
Gbajabiamila.
The piece of legislation passed
second reading at the lower house on May 23, 2023.
With the establishment of an
education bank, tertiary institutions owned by the Federal Government may now
be at liberty to introduce tuition fees, experts in the higher education sector
have argued.
Already, some universities owned by the Federal Government have started announcing an increase in tuition fees.
According to the bill, which was sighted by our correspondent on Monday, students applying for loans under this Act must apply to the Chairman of the Bank through their respective institutions upon satisfying of the following conditions:
i. Student must have secured
admission into any public Nigerian University, Polytechnic, college of
education or any TVET school; Applicant income or family income must be less
than N500,000 per annum; Applicant must provide at least two civil servants as
guarantors: of not less than level 12 years in service; or a Lawyer with at
least 10 years post-call experience; a Judicial officer; or a Justice of Peace.
ii. Students who have defaulted
on previous loans; found guilty of exam malpractice, felony, or drug offences
will not be considered.
iii. Students with parents who
have defaulted in respect of previous loans will not be considered.
Following the satisfaction of the
conditions listed above, applications for the loans will be submitted through
the Students Affairs Office of each institution via a list of all qualified
applicants from the institution accompanied by a cover letter signed by the
Vice-Chancellor or Rector or the head of the institution and the Student
Affairs.
On the repayment, the act states
that “Any beneficiary of the loan to which this Act refers shall commence
repayment two years after completion of the National Youth Service Corps
programme. Repayment shall be by direct deduction of 10 per cent of the
beneficiary’s salary at source by the employer.
“Where the beneficiary is
self-employed, he shall remit 10 per cent of his total profit monthly to the
student loan account to be prescribed by the bank.
“For the purpose of sub-section 3
above, a self-employed person shall, within 60 days of assuming that status,
submit all information such as the name of business, address and location,
registration documents, registered, name of bankers, names of partners, name of
directors and shareholders to the Commission.
“Anyone in default of the
provisions of sub-section 4 above or found to be aiding the default of any of
the provisions of this Act is guilty of an offence and, if convicted, shall be
liable to imprisonment for two years or a fine of N500,000 or both.”
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At the end the rich will still inherit it as the personal inheritance,
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