Parents and some students have voiced their dissatisfaction with the federal government for failing to start the much-discussed student education loan distribution in January as promised.
Recall earlier, at the October 2023 Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu declared that the government will start paying back the loans to Nigerian students by January 2024.
The government had previously insisted that everything was prepared for students to be able to obtain the loan in January 2024, but nothing has come of that. Parents and students are nonetheless concerned about the development, despite a top ministry of education official urging composure.
“You have my word that, upon receipt of the summit report, my government will fulfill all of its commitments. After you have created those recommendations, get ready to challenge me,” he stated.
Education expert Euriel Momah expressed sadness over the fact that this seems to be a recurring pattern despite the government’s abundance of promises and measures.
Remember that in an effort to support and encourage the teaching profession, the previous administration promised to provide federal university students studying education with a specific allowance; however, that promise has not yet been fulfilled.
You probably still remember the pledge to feed schoolchildren and what transpired in relation to that. He stated, “It’s either the government doesn’t mean these ideas in the first place, or they don’t have the willpower and dedication to implement them.
He continued, saying, “Now, in terms of the current administration’s student loan, nothing could be more inviting, especially when we take into account the current expense of education.
When this policy is put into effect, it will be of great assistance to Nigerian students who are having difficulty affording to stay in education at various postsecondary institutions.
It will motivate them to sharpen their focus and raise their level of performance. Many of the illegal activities and crimes that some of them commit will either completely disappear or significantly decrease.
In regards to the student loan program, Momah restated his conviction that the federal government will honor its commitment.
“I still want to think and hope that the current administration would honor its commitment. “Hopefully, they are attempting to refine the policy’s implementation strategy,” he remarked.
A student named Adebayo Olatunde stated that the government had no interest in seeing this plan fail.
“I believe it is not in the best interest of the government to promise something to a significant portion of the citizenry and then back out of that promise.
“School administrators quickly raised tuition across the nation; the government should also launch the loan program as soon as possible to help students afford their fees in this dire economic climate,” he stated.
Olatunde cautioned that breaking a government pledge to youngsters will simply reinforce the belief that the government is untrustworthy, which is the last thing any government wants from its young people.
The student loan program is supposed to open a new chapter in the fight to provide education to underprivileged children, but it is now experiencing difficulties, which has left prospective students and their families in the dark after it missed the January deadline.