30,000 students chosen for student loan program – Akpabio
Senate President Godswill Akpabio has revealed that over 30,000 students from Nigerian tertiary institutions have been chosen to benefit from the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) established by President Bola Tinubu.
Akpabio made this announcement on Tuesday during his visit to the Nigeria Institute of Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS) in Abuja. He emphasized that the Student Loan bill, which was passed as a crucial legislation by the tenth Assembly, is an initiative that enables underprivileged children to pursue higher education without the financial constraints.
Highlighting the importance of the bill, Akpabio expressed that it was one of the most appealing aspects of his role as the Senate President, as it lends a helping hand to those in need of educational assistance.
“One of the most important bills for the tenth Assembly was the bill sent to us by President Bola Tinubu. The Student Loan Bill enables vulnerable Nigerian students, the less privileged to obtain higher education.
“And as I speak to you now, over 30,000 Nigerian students have already been selected to benefit from that scheme. That is one of the bills I will say appeal to me the most,” Akpabio said.
READ ALSO: Expert urges gov’t to reform student loan scheme, allow flexible repayment options
He also said that Nigeria might have prevented banditry if the country had retained its old-new national anthem, “Nigeria, We Hail Thee.”
He maintained that the message of the old-new National anthem could have eased the menace of banditry and insecurity if Nigeria had not abolished it in 1978.
“The other impactful bill signed by the National Assembly is the reverting to our old national anthem. A lot of people are not aware that there was a panel set up and made up of Nigerians to receive input from all over the world in 1959.
“So when people are saying we’re bringing in colonial anthem, they need to look into the history of “Nigeria, we hail thee.”
“If we had kept to that anthem, we probably would not have banditry today in Nigeria because if you take your neighbour as your brother, you will not want to kill him,” the Senate President added.