The Students’ Wing of the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG-SW) has commenced protests in Kano against the proposed Tax Reform Bill by the Federal Government, describing it as a significant threat to education and development in Northern Nigeria.
Speaking during the protest, the National Coordinator of CNG-SW, Hassan Adamu, criticized the bill, stating that it would cripple essential educational institutions and initiatives, particularly in the north.
He highlighted the adverse impact on organizations like the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) and the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), which have been instrumental in supporting education and innovation.
He said: “There is a deliberate attempt to narrow the NELFUND coverage in the Northern region as the total number of Federal and State tertiary institutions in the region is more than 96. In Zamfara state for instance only four (4) out of the Ten (10) public tertiary institution were covered Sokoto only 4,
“Kano only (4). 13 and so on.
Priority was also given to federal institutions with few state-owned institution
Tertiary institutions taking advantage of the Student Loan Scheme to increase tuition fees for the 2024/2025 session, will abuse the scheme. The hike of tuition fees with the current economic reality will be a catastrophe to students and the scheme will be perceived as another form of extortion.
“The delay in refund can give unpatriotic public servants room to embezzle the money. It is needless to remind us how snakes and other animals were swallowing money years ago.
“The pressure of tuition fees payment deadline usually issued by many tertiary institutions have led to the withdrawal of indigent students, missing of academic activities such as examinations in some
cases leading to poor academic performance or total forfeiture of their academic pursuit which has led to the increase number of dropouts in northern institutions to up to 60 percent tax, will now receive 20% of the levy in 2025 and 2026 and noting after 2026, according to the proposed Tax Reform Bill.
“The implication is that NITDA will not have funds to promote digital inclusion and innovation initiative. It is imperative to state that the Bill will favor NELFUND which will increase access to student loan which will trap our youth in bondage.
“NELFUND is currently funded by 1% deduction collected from Taxes,levies, and duties collected by federal inland revenue service (FIRS), it will now receive 25% of the levy in 2025 and 2026, 33% from 2027 to 2029 And 100% by 2030 according to the new Tax Reform Bill.
“This implication of this is that, the proposed bill if passed will divert funds critical sector such as infrastructure,
innovation initiative with long-time development impact.
“It shifts attention to Students loan; this could also give reason for the public Tertiary institutions to increase their tuition fees. It could also make our public Tertiary institutions to be one revenue generation entity, paving way for privatization of our Tertiary institutions thereby making it inaccessible to the masses.
“This will also saddle our youth with unsustainable debt burden. This mirror the country’s chronical national indebtedness, and as well risk creating a generation of financially constrained youth that are
is capable of contributing meaningfully to the economy.”
The coalition warned that the proposed reforms could create a generation of indebted youth while undermining educational development in the north.
It also condemned any attempt to use the student loan scheme as a justification for privatizing public tertiary institutions, which would make higher education inaccessible to many.
The protest is part of CNG-SW’s broader advocacy to protect the interests of northern students and ensure that education remains a priority in national policies.
He added, “We call on the federal government to discontinue the reform process and give room for a holistic consultation and amendment before legislation.
“We call on the northern legislators and Governors to study the Bill adequately in order to come up with a practical way out.
“The NELFUND Disbursement in Northern Institutions and Shortcomings
The coalition of Northern groups students wing (CNG-SW) as vanguard of the Federal Government Students Loan Scheme, haven participated actively in sensitizing the students, parents and the general public about the Student Loan Scheme (Bill and Act) as well as sensitization and mobilization of students to apply for the loan; have critically studied and analyzed the released of disbursement statistics by National Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) across tertiary institutions in the Northern region.”
