The association said this on Wednesday in a statement issued by its President, Pedro Chibuzor Obi, in support of a similar call made by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has asked President Bola Tinubu to convert the Student Loan Scheme initiated by his administration into a grant or scholarship for students.

The association said this on Wednesday in a statement issued by its President, Pedro Chibuzor Obi, in support of a similar call made by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

ASUU through its President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, had rejected the administration’s student loan policy and asked the President to convert the loan policy to a grant for Nigerian students.

NANS in its statement on Wednesday said that rather than enforce a student loan policy, “the Nigerian government must introduce grants and scholarships for students for easy access to education”.

It said, “This, of course, must be coupled with proper funding of the education sector and judicious management of funds allocated to the sector, as it is the only way to truly ensure access to quality education for Nigerian students.

“As much as we understand that President Bola Tinubu must have had good intention for introducing the Students' loan idea in his policy document during electioneering campaign, we believe that it is not well thought of and that it will only take higher education out of the reach of the poor.

“The Access to Higher Education Act, 2023, the brainchild of the immediate past Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila which was signed into law by President Tinubu on June 12, 2023 has not and will not solve the age-long problem of lack of access to education being confronted by the Nigerian people.

“The Act will only shut the door against Nigerians who are seeking higher education. This is obvious in the rate at which University managements have astronomically increased fees across levels since it was introduced.

“As a Students' body, we are not even interested in highlighting the many restrictions in accessing the loan. But, we want to call on the Federal Government to as a matter of necessity scrap the Act and introduce grants and scholarships instead.

“A scholarship board must be created for the sake of identifying excellent and indigent students for such.

“We want to remind the Federal Government that the solution to the problem of public education in Nigeria is proper funding.

“We are against any policy which would grant financial autonomy to management of higher institutions who will in turn seek new revenue sources to pay staff and allowances because the government will absolve itself of any responsibility towards the funding of education.”