I read an article titled ‘ The Conundrum of Students Loan Law in Nigeria: Balancing Economic Reforms and Education Accessibility.’ In the article, while the author didn’t outrightly condemn or wittle down the importance of such law as part of the efforts to revamp our education, he argued that the law was premature, as it didn’t seem to factor in the necessary economic conditions that will ensure its successful implementation. The central idea of the piece was that certain level of economic prosperity is sine qua non to the success of such law.
While the perspective of the article is not exactly unreasonable, the incontrovertible truth is that whatever plan the government has on building inclusive prosperity, no matter its nobility and grandeur, the foundation of its success, invariably, is sound and affordable education.
As a matter of fact, the real growth engine of the economy are innovation and entrepreneurship, and none of these could be harnessed without quality education.
And by quality education, the sort of knowledge acquisition that will expand the frontiers of creativity with the concomitant ripples effect on development is implicated. And this also means, the goal of the system that will deliver such model of enlightenment will not be production of job seekers alone, rather, it must necessarily be the production of quality human resource that can turn around the fortunes of the society
And this invariably leads to the indispensable complement of this student loan law, and that is the need to revamp the education sector in such a way that it will be able to deliver that which it is designed to achieve. And this will necessarily includes, though not limited to, focussing on primary and post primary education to create the necessary solid foundation for the man power development we seek as a society, and ultimately granting tertiary institutions the requisite autonomy that will facilitate the actualisation of their purpose, among others.
By and large, the law is in order.
We pray God to grant the new administration resounding success
May Nigeria prosper
May we all prosper
© 13th June, 2023 Toyyib Musa-Omoloja
