The much-anticipated Nigerian Students Loan Scheme, scheduled to be launched by the Federal Government, has been postponed indefinitely, as confirmed by the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, Akintunde Sawyer, in an interview with Arise News on Tuesday.
Originally set to kick off on Thursday, the loan scheme has faced yet another setback, with Sawyer citing the need for corrections prior to its official launch. The delay comes after President Bola Tinubu signed a bill in June 2023 to establish the Students Loan Fund, aimed at providing interest-free loans for higher education in Nigeria.
nitially slated to begin between September and October 2023, the program’s commencement was pushed back to January 2024 after missing the initial deadline. Minister of State for Education, Yusuf Sununu, had announced in January that preparations for the scheme were finalized, including the development of a dedicated website and detailed planning for its rollout.
President Tinubu reiterated the government’s commitment to the program during a meeting with the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) at the State House in Abuja. He assured the student leaders that the launch would proceed once additional features, such as vocational studies, were incorporated into the scheme, underscoring the importance of comprehensive education support for all Nigerian students
