By Millicent Ifeanyichukwu
The Provost of the Federal College of Education (Technical), Akoka, Lagos, Dr Wahab Azeez, has described the Student Loan Bill signed into law by President Bola Tinubu as a positive development in the right direction.
Azeez, who said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Lagos, commended Tinubu for the initiative.
According to Azeez, it will go a long way in encouraging students to go for higher education.
“It’s a laudable development and it has been part of what we have been agitating for. With this provisions now, there will be increase in the enrolment of our universities, colleges of education and polytechnics.
“It will also create an enabling environment for indigents that are financially incapable but want to pursue careers, especially careers in teacher education,” he added.
The Provost, however, called for administrative machineries to be put in place to ensure that potential beneficiaries were actually indigents.
“Beyond the announcement, adequate measures must be observed.
“The idea is to make sure that the opportunity is made open to those who cannot afford to pay school fees, so it behoves all tertiary institutions to make sure that the system is not sabotaged,” he said.
He also urged youths nursing the ambition of enrolling in tertiary institutions to take advantage of the opportunity to achieve their dreams which might have been delayed as a result of financial constraints.
Recall that Tinubu signed the Student Loan Bill into Law on Monday, which seeks to provide financial assistance to Nigerian students in tertiary institutions.
The legislation which passed the third reading in the lower chamber in May, was sponsored by Femi Gbajabiamila, immediate-past speaker of the house of representatives.
The legislation allows Nigerian students in tertiary institutions to access interest-free loans from the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, which will have the power to administer, supervise, coordinate, and monitor the management of student loans in the country.
Based on the provisions of the legislation, the fund is expected to receive applications for student loans through higher institutions on behalf of the applicants and screen them.