Education

Students loan begins Jan 2024, no need for lobby – Gbajabiamila

Published

2 years ago

November 25, 2023

From left: First indigenous Rector of Yaba College of Technology, Pa George Okufi; Rector YABATECH, Dr Ibraheem Abdul; Representative of Senate President, Monday Ubani; Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, and Pa Abdullahi Ohioma at the YABATECH Convocation Lecture in Lagos.

Students loan begins Jan 2024, no need for lobby – Gbajabiamila

Efforts are underway to ensure the commencement of the Students’ Loan Scheme in January 2024, Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, has said.

He also said Nigerian students would need no lobby to access the loans “to fund their educational aspirations”.

He spoke in Lagos on Friday while delivering a lecture titled, “Empowering Nigerian Youths in the Present Day Economy” at the 35th convocation ceremony of Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH).

Gbajabiamila said to make the process seamless, “applicants will apply online, be verified online, and be credited based on the verifiable documents and credentials they have submitted.”

He said, “Earlier this year, His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR signed the Students’ Loan (Access to Higher Education) Act, establishing the Education Loan Fund and creating a new legal framework to provide education financing through interest-free loans to Nigerian students. “

“The application system for the student loan programme is being designed so that there is no interface between the loan administrators and the beneficiaries,” he added.

The CoS said, “Applicants will apply online, be verified online, and be credited based on the verifiable documents and credentials they have submitted. Nobody will need to know anybody to qualify for these loans, so that access to this financing will be genuinely egalitarian.

“The student loan system answers part of the question of how to fund a quality public tertiary education, but it doesn’t answer all of it.

“Any serious conversation about the future of tertiary education in Nigeria must include a thorough consideration of the ways and means of addressing the funding needs of public tertiary institutions beyond government subvention.

“In this regard, we cannot for much longer avoid the simple truth that tertiary education costs money, and the best institutions worldwide succeed, amongst other things, because they can generate significant sums through fees, investments and other means.

“The simple truth is that for our institutions to compete favourably, we need more resources than are currently available to address the dangerous decline in the quality of scholarship and academic output and the graduates we produce from many of our institutions.”

He said in a perfect world, access to education would be a fundamental benefit afforded to every individual from basic through tertiary.

Gbajabiamila said, “Our learning centres will be majestic citadels of research and innovation, open to all who seek knowledge, regardless of means. But this is not a perfect world. In this real world, education is a commodity and a quality education even more so.

“Therefore, the central public policy challenge is the conflict between the competing objectives of access and quality. How do we fund a quality tertiary education without imposing costs that make access to quality education impossible for most people?

“We require a programme of aggressive and sustained investment in education. Not only in the physical infrastructure of classrooms and lecture halls but in technology hardware and software to facilitate information exchange and innovation.

“In this new world, we have found ourselves in, nothing has changed as drastically as the nature of work and how we measure productivity. Today, many skills that guaranteed employment and a healthy income for previous generations have been made redundant by technological advances.

“This generation will not only be competing with one another for opportunities, but they will also be competing in a global marketplace, against students from all over the world, and against technology, including Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools, blockchain and financial technology tools that are increasingly replacing the human function in the workplace. We must prepare them with these realities in mind.

“To do this effectively, we need to develop a new understanding of the changing nature of work and the future of employment.”

Rector of the college, Dr. Ibraheem Abdul, said the institution focused on youth empowerment through its various programmes.

“To show how committed we are to the empowering of our youths, the management established Industry Advisory Committee to enhance her dynamic role of producing technical manpower for the Economic and Social development of Nigeria,” he said.

According to him, the college has been in the forefront of manpower development, technological advancement and youth empowerment.

Some of the initiatives targeted at youth empowerment put in place by the school as highlighted by the rector are the Quadruple Helix Collaboration Scheme for Youth Empowerment; the establishment of Centre for Technology Marketing and Product Development; YCT Industry Alliance Group (YIAG) Programme; the Students Work and Study Scheme, among others.

Related Topics:Featured Gbajabiamila Students' Loan YABATECH

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Tinubu Govt Unveils National Laureate Prize to Reward Best Theses

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April 1, 2026

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Tinubu Govt Unveils National Laureate Prize to Reward Best Theses

The Federal Government of Nigeria, under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has launched the Nigeria National Laureate Annual Prize Programme, a landmark initiative designed to reward outstanding student research across tertiary institutions nationwide. The programme aims to elevate academic excellence, research innovation, and intellectual achievement to the forefront of national recognition.

According to a statement from the Federal Ministry of Education, students whose dissertations and theses demonstrate exceptional scholarly quality and commercial viability will receive significant cash prizes and national recognition. Winners will be celebrated as National Laureates, reflecting the country’s commitment to fostering research-driven development.

The awards are structured as follows:

Undergraduate dissertation winners: ₦5 million
Master’s thesis winners: ₦10 million
Doctoral (PhD) thesis winners: ₦20 million

Announcing the programme, Education Minister Tunji Alausa described it as a strategic national intervention aimed at reshaping Nigeria’s educational incentives. He stressed that the initiative underscores the importance of research as a driver of industrialisation and national development, ensuring that students’ academic efforts are matched with prestige and financial reward.

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JAMB Releases 2026 UTME Mock Results, Delists Over 20 CBT Centres

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March 31, 2026

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The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has released the 2026 UTME Mock results, following the nationwide mock examination conducted on Saturday, March 28, 2026. The announcement was made on Tuesday by JAMB spokesperson Fabian Benjamin, providing candidates with guidance on how to check their results. According to the board, a total of 224,597 candidates registered for the mock UTME, with 152,586 candidates successfully sitting for the test across 989 Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres nationwide. Candidates can check their scores by sending the keyword “MOCKRESULT” via SMS to 55019 or 66019 using the same SIM number used during UTME registration.

In a significant move to maintain exam integrity, JAMB also announced the delisting of over 20 CBT centres that faced operational challenges during the mock exam. The affected centres experienced server failures, power outages, and delayed test sessions, which disrupted the examination for many candidates. The board clarified that these centres will remain ineligible for future UTME exercises until they meet the required technical and infrastructure standards.

Education

WAEC Releases 2026 WASSCE Timetable for School Candidates

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According to the timetable, the 2026 WASSCE will commence on Tuesday, April 21, 2026, and conclude on Friday, June 19, 2026, spanning nearly nine weeks of examinations. The exams will kick off with Foods and Nutrition 3 (Practical) Planning Session and Home Management 3 (Practical) Planning Session, marking the start of both practical and theory assessments.

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