The Minister of State for Youth Development, Ayodele Olawande, has announced an interest-free student loan scheme for youths pursuing tertiary education.
Speaking to journalists in Abuja on Sunday, Olawande stated that the scheme is part of President Bola Tinubu’s “Renewed Hope Agenda” aimed at supporting young Nigerians.
According to Olawande, the loan scheme will enable undergraduates to complete their studies without dropping out due to financial difficulties.
He said, “If the president said a child will not drop out of school because he or she is not able to pay school fees, I think that is a very big plus for the ministry.’’
Mr Olawande advocated for enabling environment for young people to thrive and achieve their goals in life.
According to him, the country has more than 60 percent of young people; hence, with an enabling environment much can be achieved.
The Minister said that the ministry was making critical decisions and suggestions while the president made sure they were put into action.
Mr Olawande said that the scheme had an agency and a chairman.
He said that students could access the portal at https://nelf.gov.ng
“You don’t need to know anybody; just go and apply.
“They will put it together; send it to the school and it will be sorted out so that one can study properly and pass the exam,” he added.
According to him, the loan is for students in public tertiary and technical institutions.
Mr Olawande said that everything must not be just education because the country had gotten to the stage where skills were needed.
“China, India, the U.S. and others are successful because of the skills the citizens have.
“The government is not saying that everything must be a university, polytechnic tertiary institution, it must also go to the technical schools so that the person can have one or two skills.
“Most of the foreigners they bring to Nigeria to come and work, which we call graduates, are not graduates; they are technicians,” he said.
According to him, in every ministry and parastatals, young people are found there; so, most of the decisions government makes still boils down to the youth.
The student loan, which is being implemented at present, is part of the Higher Education Access Act, assented to by Mr Tinubu in June 2023.
In February, the Act was returned to the National Assembly for a complete overhaul and was passed again and assented to by the president.