Nigeria president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu on the 12th of June, 2023 gave his assent to the “Access To Higher Education Bill“, otherwise known the Student Loan Bill. The Bill was sponsored by Speaker of the House of Representatives and Chief of Staff to the President-designate, Femi Gbajabiamila, and it was passed by the Legislative in May 2023.
The main reason for sponsoring the Bill is contained in its title: “A Bill for an Act to provide for easy access to higher education for Nigerians through an interest-free loan from the Nigerian Education Bank established in this Act to provide education for Nigerians and other purposes connected thereto.”
Highlighted underneath are some of the facts you need to know about the newly-passed bill:
Every student has to address the application letter to the Chairman of the Bank and through the Student Affairs Office of their various tertiary institutions – be it University, College of Education, Polytechnic or Vocational School – established by the Federal Government or any State Government.
Applicant income or family must earn salary or income up to N500,000 per annum.
This is the first time the student loan bill would passed in Nigeria.
Applicant needs two civil servant with at least 12 years experience, or a lawyer with at least 10 years post-call experience, or a Judicial Officer, or a Justice of Peace to stand for him or her as guarantors.
Applicant may suffer disqualification if they or their parents have failed to repay their previousin loan, or they (student) are culpable for drug related offences, examination malpractices or committed any felony.
Processing and disbursement of the loan shall be concluded within a month of the bank receiving the application.
The loan is mainly meant for the payment of Tuition not for any other purposes without any interest.
Repayment of the Loan shall commence two years after the beneficiary must have completed the mandatory NYSC programme.
10% of the applicant’s salary shall be deducted at source by any employer for the repayment of the loan. And if they are self-employed, they will remit 10% of their total monthly profit as repayment of the loan.
Applicant that fails to pay, or anyone aiding them will be sentenced, to two years imprisonment, or a fine of N500,000 or both.
The new Act establishes the Nigerian Education Bank saddled to oversee the process, administer, and monitor these loans.
The Bank is not without a Governing Board that will be supervised by a Professor who is a retired Vice Chancellor of any Nigerian university. The Board will include representatives from Academic Staff Union of Universities, Vice Chancellors Forum, Rectors Forum, Nigerian Labour Congress, Nigerian Bar Association, the Minister of Education, Auditor General of the Federation, the Minister of Finance or their Representative, Chairman of Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC), among others.
