- President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on Monday, June 12, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, signed the Student Loan Bill into law
- The newly signed student Loan Bill is meant to help indigent students go through higher institutions
- The act establishing the law explains how students are to apply to access the loan, those eligible for the loans, etc
State House, Abuja – After the signing of the Student Loan Bill, which gives students access to loans for higher education, into law, by President Bola Tinubu, applicants are expected to apply to access the loan.
President Tinubu had on Monday, June 12, signed the bill into law to help indigent student access loans for their tertiary education.
Source: Facebook
The yet-to-be-created Nigeria Education Bank will be in charge of the process under the supervision of di Central Bank of Nigeria, BBC Pidgin reported
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As it stands, no date has been disclosed for the commencement of the process, however, questions to go about it have emerged.
Who are those Qualified to get the loan
To be qualified to access the loan, the applicant must have gotten admission into any state or federal government university, polytechnic, college of education, or vocational school.
The income or family’s income of the student must be less than N500,000.
The student must present guarantors, who are civil servants and must have been in the service for 12 years
Applicants are also allowed to bring lawyers with 10 years of experience or any judicial officer or a Justice of Peace (JP).
How to apply for the loan
According to the act, which established the Student Loan Bill, students are to apply to the Nigeria Education Bank through the institution that offers them admission.
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The application letter will go through the Student Affairs Division of each higher institution and the school will compile a list of candidates to forward to the bank together with a cover letter from the Vice Chancellor.
The letter will be addressed to the chairman of the Education Bank and within 30 days, disbursement of the money will commence.
However, the law also states that each institution must submit its list not more than 30 days after the close of admissions.
Criteria to qualify for student loan
The loans are for students willing to get higher education from public institutions of higher learning inside the country.
Students willing to further their education in private higher institutions are not part of their arrangement.
The loan is for every student irrespective of gender, tribe, or religion.
Any form of disability is not a disadvantage to accessing the loan
The loan is only for students who want to pay school fees.
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Students looking for allowance or money for projects are not part of the arrangement.
The background of applicants is checked to must sure they don’t have a record of defaulting loans taken from any organization.
How much will student collect as loan?
The Student Loan Bill signed by President Tinubu did not state the amount each successful student will be given.
According to BBC Pidgin, an education expert, Sadiq Aminu, said the appears the loans will be based on the institution, course of study, and duration.
Imprisonment for failure to repay the loan?
Successful students are expected to repay the loan two years after completing the National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) programme.
According to the act, the repayment will be a direct deduction of 10% of your salary from the source and for self-employed, the government will collect 10% of the total profit each month.
Failure to repay the loan can result to two years in prison or N500,000 fine or both.
Persons with criminal records, 4 other categories cannot access president Tinubu’s student loan
When students start to repay the loan
Students who benefit from the program will repay after two years of graduation.
The Education Bank will collaborate with employers to make sure they deduct the required amount from their salary and pay to the student loan fund account.
The repayment will be a direct deduction of 10% of your salary from the source and for self-employed, the government will deduct 10% of your total profit each month.
Who will administer the loans
The new act will establish the Nigerian Education Bank and empower it to “supervise, coordinate, administer and monitor the management of student loan for Nigeria.”
Part of the responsible of the Nigeria Education Bank is not only to approve and disburse loans to qualified applicants but also to monitor to know when students graduate.
Where the Education Bank will get funding from
According to the law, the Education Bank will get its funding for operations from the following
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- 1 % of all taxes and levies from Federal Inland Revenue Service, Nigeria Customs, and Nigeria Immigration Service.
- Education Bond
- All interests from normal deposits for the bank.
- Education endowment fund schemes
- Donations, gifts, and government grants
- Other savings and interest from the investment that the bank makes.
Persons with criminal records, 4 other categories cannot access President Tinubu’s student loan
Earlier, Legit.ng had reported that expectations of parents and students alike to acquire tertiary education have been high since the day President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on Monday, June 12, signed the Students Loan Bill into law.
The Students Loan Bill was the third of its kind that President Tinubu had signed since assuming office on Monday, May 29.
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Legit.ng reported that President Bola Tinubu had signed the student loan bill into law. This will be the third of its kind that the new Nigerian leader has signed since his assumption of office as the president.
This was disclosed in a video shared on the President’s media page on Twitter, @ABATMediaCentre, on Monday, June 12.
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