Felix Attah Nnalue, senate president of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has called for a review of the Student Loan Act to allow for ID verification of beneficiaries using their biometrics and National Identification Number (NIN).
NIN is already used for other student-related activities in Nigeria like JAMB exams registration, and it is issued by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).
Nnalue, a social activist, said a review of the law, officially known as the Access to Higher Education Act 2023, is necessary in order to clear some of the barriers that limit the scope of beneficiaries.
In June, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu enacted the legislation which is designed to provide interest-free loans to a certain category of young Nigerians who are thirsty for tertiary education.
Among the requirements for eligibility is the fact that the student’s income or that of their family must be less than 500,000 Naira (US$631) per annum.
Nnalue felt this requirement is discriminatory. “We want the students’ loan to cover every category of students,”
He also reiterated his support for the National Education Repository and Databank (NERD) to manage the loan scheme which, he says, should be linked to the biometrics and NIN of beneficiaries.
According to Nnalue, the NERD should be the only platform through which the loan scheme is managed since it will be the body responsible for handling all the data of potential recipients of loan payments.
Linking the NERD to the NIMC database would be consistent with the position of the government to harmonize all government databases in the country and create one central repository.
