‘We’re not adequately represented’ — NANS asks Tinubu to review committee on student loan

The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has asked President Bola Tinubu to review the special committee on education loan fund to include student representatives. 

On Monday, Tinubu signed the student loan bill into law to commemorate this year’s Democracy Day.

The initiative is aimed at helping students in tertiary institutions to access interest-free loans from the Nigerian education loan fund.

The Act establishing the fund had stipulated that the committee to review the loan must include representatives of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) respectively.

On Tuesday, a delegation of student union leaders led by Usman Baranbu, NANS president, met with Tinubu to discuss the Act.

Speaking with journalists after the meeting, Baranbu said representatives of student bodies should be included in the committee to ensure inclusion.

NANS also demanded the removal of lecturers and lawyers from the committee since the fund is “purely for students”.

“We have outlined the clauses that we are not too comfortable with. And part of them is the issue of that board that we mentioned to the President, which we said at least students representatives should be captured and there are some organisation that they put there, which to us, they don’t need to be there,” he said.

“We gave him an example, most especially the Nigerian Bar Association, ASUU. ASUU have their own microfinance bank running their own affairs without students on their board. So, I don’t think it’s wise for us to allow them to be inside our own board because it is purely students.

“We are the major stakeholders of that bank. So, I don’t think allowing them to be there is good. Not only them, we mentioned a lot of people that they should remove and put more of student-oriented organisation.”

In his remark, Tinubu promised to look into the demands of the student associations.

He also enjoined them to promote unity among their members across the country.