President Bola Tinubu has suffered severe criticism amid the signing into law of the National Student Loan Amendment bill.
Chronicle NG reported on Wednesday that Tinubu signed the National Student Loan Amendment Bill into law.
The new legislation revoked the previous Student Loans (Access to Higher Education) Act of 2023 and re-enacted the Student Loans (Access to Higher Education) Bill of 2004.
The executive bill creates the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, a corporate body entrusted with receiving, managing, and investing monies to give loans to Nigerians seeking higher education, vocational training, and skill acquisition programs.
However, the signing into law of the bill has attracted backlash from a cross-section of Nigerians who berated the President for allegedly prioritizing Hajj subsidy for Muslim pilgrims over education.
Reacting to the news, an influencer on X who is simply identified as Queen Bee noted that Tinubu’s “priority is clear” after allotting N90 billion for the Hajj subsidy.
“N5 billion for Students Loan, N5 billion for Yacht, and N90 billion for Hajj religious pilgrimage. The priority is clear, ” she said.
“Trust Tinubu and his criminally minded supporters at your peril,” she added.
In his reaction, Fodoro Tobi berates Tinubu for making “brouhaha” over the signing into law of the student loan bill.
He says, “N90 billion on private Hajj, no legislative brouhaha. N70 billion and more in gifts to Reps and Senators, no legislative brouhaha. N5 billion for a presidential yacht, no legislative brouhaha.
“The one for the N5 billion loan (with a needle-eye qualification barrier), which will be paid back, legislators, assistants, and the executive must scrutinize and consent for 10 months.”
RMD Kenny notes that the new law would only indebt students to the nation.
“So the citizens will be indebted to the Nation when the Nation is indebted to its citizens and has not fulfilled its obligations, ” Kenny said.
Ishola Noah stated that the new law is a deliberate attempt to shift the focus of Nigerians from the recent 300% increase in electricity tariffs.
“See comic relief after the electricity tariff and subsidizing Hajj to Saudi Arabia for intending pilgrims,” Noah stated.
Taiwo stated that the federal government should have given grants to students instead of loans.
“It makes no sense to me. Student grants and scholarships are what the students need. Western countries don’t just give loans; they give loans to those who they believe can afford education after they get grants with their income. How many parents or students have jobs?” he said.
For Uchenna Nwaigwe, he described the law as retrogressive, saying, “This is going backward. The US is suffering from this archaic law.”
