Ex Minister, Dare commends Tinubu on student loans Bill

By Christiana Ekpa

The immediate past Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, has commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for signing the student loans bill sponsored by immediate past Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamia.
The legislation, which is now signed into law known as “An act to provide for easy access to higher education for Nigerians through interest-free loans from the Nigerian Education Bank” will enable Nigerian students in higher institutions of learning to have access to financial assistance.
The loan can be accessed for the purpose of paying school fees, accommodation, textbooks, research, education materials or any other purpose that’s justified by the institutions and the amount will differ from student to student and course to course.
Reacting to the development, Dare thanked Tinubu for being a father to Nigerian Youth by signing the bill saying it will allow them to have access to affordable education.
Via his Twitter page, he said, “On Point ! President Tinubu Signs the Students Loan Bill, SLB. Thank you for being a father to the youth. Affordable education will help take our youth out of the path of poverty and give them a chance to succeed.”
We will recall that Chief Dare during his tenure as Minister facilitated the increment of NYSC allowance from N19,500 to N33,000 and also facilitated the establishment of a N75 billion Nigeria Youth Investment Fund (NYIF), where the Youth can access loan from N250,000 to N3million among others.
He has been an advocate of a Youth Entrepreneurship Bank in Nigeria and in April this year, the African Development Bank sent a team to Nigeria for discussions hosted by the Ministry of Finance. A Technical team was thereafter set up to work out the modalities.
The ex-minister has also demonstrated his unflinching support for the Nigerian Youth and showed his implicit confidence in their innovative talents, potentials and industry by regularly engaging with them and pleading their case with the former President, Muhammadu Buhari. He was also instrumental in recalibrating the Nigerian sports by pushing through the National Sports Industry Policy, which is set to unlock billions of dollars for the Nigerian economy.