The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has called on President Bola Tinubu to provide an enabling environment for higher institution graduates in the country to get employment opportunities for the success of the student loan scheme.
The NBA chairman, the Ikere-Ekiti branch, Dr Sunday Afolayan who addressed newsmen to herald activities for this year’s law week of the branch, while commending the loan scheme for the students, added that the administration should go further in ensuring the effectiveness of the scheme with
Afolayan said if students accessed the loan scheme when in school and could not secure employment opportunities to repay the loan, would make it difficult for the sustainability of the project.
He said, “ Student loans are good. I am speaking now from the angle of an academic sector; what students are currently paying as tuition is not the cost of education they are enjoying.
“Look at private universities; students will be paying N4.5 million, but in public universities, they pay N500,000; N600,000. It’s because education has been subsidized in public universities.
“Basically, looking at the student loan, it is a good one if we have the enabling environment. So, the government should make it a total package; they must be able to guarantee job opportunities after school so that it will be easier for them to repay the loan.”
Afolayan noted that the removal of the fuel subsidy was a right step in the right direction, calling on President Tinubu to channel the freed money from the subsidy into areas of the economy, education, health, power, and other vital areas to develop the assets.
“Removal of fuel subsidy is very important and has become necessary. Personally, as a lawyer, I believe that subsidy was a right step in the right direction, but that is not enough.
“Removing fuel subsidy means that some money is being freed into the hands of the federal government. So, this money should be channelled back into the crucial areas of the economy, education, health, power, and other vital areas where we can have all of these assets developed with the fund,” he said.
The chairman noted that the theme for the 2023 law week, ‘ Security and People’s Welfare in Nigeria’s Democratic Experience: Leveraging the Legal Practice as a Catalyst ’ was important to discuss how legal practitioners can contribute to the nation’s development.
The Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Adeoye Aribasoye who declared the Law Week open said the theme of the event was very apt and timely, adding that lawyers are well positioned to proffer innovative strategies to address the security challenges already identified.
He also called on legal practitioners to uphold the rule of law and promote the common goals of people as they have a unique role to play in advocating for justice and the welfare of society.
Aribasoye said: “Our state, Ekiti, like.many other states in Nigeria are facing significant challenges in the areas of security and welfare and I am happy to see legal practitioners coming together to explore ways to leverage their expertise towards finding lasting solutions to these challenges.
“The legal profession has always been a key partner in the quest for justice, equity and the rule of law in our society. Lawyers have a unique role to play in advocating for the rights and interests of the people, upholding the law and promoting the common goal in the face of current challenges facing our nation.
“It is even more important that we work together to find innovative ways to address these challenges. This is why I am calling on lawyers who have a lot to do particularly with us in the House of Assembly.
“You all know that to re-engineer our society, good laws have to be in place and we need lawyers to collaborate with to find innovative ways to address the challenges we have all identified.
“How do we confront these challenges? There is a need for us to collaborate and I am confident that this Law Week will provide a platform for legal practitioners to share experiences, discuss the best practices and explore innovative solutions to the issues of security and people’s welfare in Nigeria.”
In her keynote Address, the president, Customary Court of Appeal, Ekiti State, Justice Monisola Abodunde, charged legal practitioners to be catalysts by using law as a tool for development in society.
She solicited the cooperation of the House under the leadership of Aribasoye in impacting people’s lives through effective legislation and initiating the process of reviewing old laws for the benefit of people.
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