Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has admonished President Bola Tinubu to extend the Student Loan Scheme to students of private universities.
Obasanjo, however, expressed pessimism that the scheme will not create avenues for corrupt practices.
The former president made this submission at the inauguration of the Asiwaju Onafowokan, Coleman Wires and Cables building at Bells University’s College of Postgraduate Studies in Ota, Ogun State.
According to Obasanjo: “The Vice-Chancellor has spoken about the need to include students in private universities as beneficiaries of the Student Loan Scheme. I urge the government to listen to that and take heed to include them, too. I doubt if the scheme will be run without corruption, that is another matter entirely.”
Obasanjo, the proprietor of Bell University of Technology, emphasised the importance of the scheme the development of the society and the welfare of the citizens, noting that the exclusion of a group of people would be counterproductive.
This is coming at a time the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, NELFUND, Mr Akintunde Sawyer, said students in private institutions would not benefit from the loan scheme.