President Bola Tinubu has claimed that the student loan program will go into full operation in January 2024.
Mr Tinubu made the announcement on Monday at the 29th Economic Summit organized by the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning in Abuja.
Nigerians were guaranteed by the president that government-owned tertiary institutions would no longer go on strike.
He conceded that his changes had a short-term negative impact on Nigerians, but he pledged that everyone would soon reap the advantages.
In order to fulfill a campaign pledge, Mr Tinubu signed the Student Loan Bill into law in June. The bill provides destitute Nigerian students with interest-free loans.
Furthermore, the president stated that Nigeria would honor all future foreign exchange contracts.
“All foreign exchange contracts will be honoured by this government; I assure you we have a line of sight to the foreign exchange we need to refloat this economy, and we will get it,” he said.
Mr Tinubu stated that as the naira continued to decrease in value on the parallel market, he would clear the backlog of foreign currency contracts that were undermining investor confidence.
Niyi Yusuf, chairman of the NESG, stated that with over 133 million multidimensionally poor Nigerians, there were potentially increased risks of stagnation and suffering if the low-growth, low-investment age continued.
“ The future of the Nigerian child is at stake across every geopolitical zone. The Nigerian ageing population is also at risk; there is a high prospect that a retiree’s savings and investments will be eroded entirely just a few years into the first or second decade of retirement.
“Our high fertility rate, which is driving a much higher population growth than economic growth, poses a risk of an unproductive population bulge, with an unmanageable social infrastructure cost and burden for supporting our children’s health, nutrition and education,” Mr Yusuf said.
He predicted that Nigeria’s multibillion-dollar economy will be viable in a decade if substantial reform, continuous economic action, and intentional institutional improvements were implemented.
