The Federation of Ekiti State Students’ Union National President, who also double as the Chairman Southwest State students’ National president forum, has lauded the efforts of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu over the newly signed student loan bill.
The National President, FESSU, cum Chairman of the Six State President forum, Southwest students’ comrade. Abel ‘Wale Ajibade, appreciated the efforts of the President at a radio show on Fresh FM 106.9 situated in the city of Ado in Ekiti State on Saturday morning.
In a statement by Comrade Oluwabusuyimi Borisade,
Director of script and event,
to the National President, (FESSU) hinted that the national President, applauded president Bola Tinubu saying, many wouldn’t have believed he’d start from the students, just within three weeks into his administration, it’s a commendable effort,” he said. He stressed out multiple ways in which the student loan is important in present Nigeria:
“Many students are out of school because they can’t afford to pay their fee again; many have to go through tedious work to pay; while some have become criminal entities because of the same purpose, so having a student loan at this time is prompt.
However, he solicited that the government make haste in making provision for youth job seekers immediately after their National Service Year, otherwise known as NYSC. I would implore the government to make jobs more available to our youths, since only through this can they make repayment for the loan. He also seek that the requirements for accessing the loan be revised, especially in terms of the principal guarantor(s).
Recall that the President on Monday signed into law the Student Loan Bill. The bill was first introduced in 2016 by the current chief of staff, Hon. Gbajabiamila, during his years at the National Assembly, and reintroduced in 2019. It received more attention from the National Assembly in November 2022. It was barely a month after the end of an eight-month-long industrial action by the nation’s university workers’ union, which had protested poor working conditions, among other demands, before the enactment in June 2023. The act gives indigent students of a public higher institution in Nigeria access to school on loan, which they must repay 2 years after their compulsory National Service Year.
