This loan provision to students of higher institutions is part of Mr Tinubu's planned reforms for education as contained in his 'Renewed Hope' manifesto.
The Nigerian government has said the processes towards implementing the new Access to Higher Education Act, or the "Students Loan Act", has commenced.
The Permanent Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Education, Andrew Adejoh, who disclosed this in Abuja on Wednesday, said the first batch of beneficiaries will be able to draw the loan in September ahead of the 2023/2024 academic calendar year,
President Bola Tinubu had on Monday assented to the Act, which supports establishing the Education Loan Fund to provide interest-free loans for indigent Nigerians to fund higher education.
This provision of loans to higher education students is part of Mr Tinubu's reforms for education as contained in his 'Renewed Hope' manifesto.
Implementation
Speaking to journalists on Wednesday, Mr Adejoh said the president has approved the constitution of a committee to see to the affairs of the Education Loan Fund established by the Act.
He said the president has also directed that the first set of recipients of the loans should be ready by September.
He said: "The Act, as it is, tells us the process, but as I speak with you today, the President has approved the committee made up of the Ministries and agencies, and their meeting will be coming up on 20 June.
"The President has also directed that by September to October of this 2023/2024 academic session, he wants to see recipients of these loans. So it is a very serious march for us. So, between now and then, we have to figure out the process for people to get the loan".
He said the committee would learn from the past mistakes of the defunct Nigerian Students Loan Board.
Mr Adejoh added that the government would create a tracking system for the scheme.
The official said as soon as the Act is gazetted at the Federal Ministry of Justice, Mr Adejoh said copies will be made public.
Background
The bill, when it was introduced in 2016 by its sponsor and immediate past Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, was met with stiff opposition from students' and workers' unions who described it as a ploy to introduce tuition in Nigerian tertiary institutions.
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They said the government introduced the law to wash its hands off the funding of the institutions "already plagued by underfunding."
But as part of efforts towards ensuring the support of stakeholders, Mr Tinubu on Tuesday met the leadership of various students' unions "who gave their backing to the implementation of the Act."
But while participating in the Twitter Space organised by this newspaper on Wednesday, stakeholders, including the leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU); Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU); Campaign for Workers and Youth Alternative (CWA) and the Education Rights Campaign (ERC), condemned the new law.
They said the government should instead block loopholes in its finances and safe to fund education rather than pushing the financial burden to the "already overburdened parents."
Qosim Suleiman is a reporter at Premium Times in partnership with Report for the World, which matches local newsrooms with talented emerging journalists to report on under-covered issues around the globe
