A former speaker of the Federal House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogra, has asked President Bola Tinubu to include students of private universities as beneficiaries of the Student Loan Scheme.

Mr Dogara, who spoke at the weekend, said adding the undergraduates in the private institutions to the scheme will assist their parents in mitigating the adverse effect of fuel subsidy removal and serve as palliative measures.

“While commending the Student Loan Scheme of this present administration, I join my voice in the call for the inclusion of private university students in the Student Loan Scheme of this administration as part of the palliative measures since they are also Nigerians,” he said at the convocation ceremony of Achievers University in Owo, Ondo state.

Mr Dogara said the plight of students attending private universities should be considered since they are affected by any policies initiated by the government.

He urged Mr Tinubu to ensure that the loan scheme, which has continued to receive applause from well-meaning Nigerians and critical stakeholders, was properly managed for the benefit of the students in private and public universities.

“Let me appeal to the federal government to consider the plight being faced by the students of tertiary institutions. The scheme should be properly managed for the benefit of the teeming youths of this country,” the former speaker said.

In June, Mr Tinubu signed the Students Loan Bill into law in fulfilment of one of his campaign promises to liberalise funding of the country’s education system. He had also revealed that the programme would take off in January next year.

While lamenting the high unemployment rate, Mr Dogara pleaded with the federal government to initiate policies to help create wealth among the youth.

He said unemployment has led to poverty, which is now manifesting in the nation’s election through vote buying.

“We have talked so much about ending so many things in Nigeria; now is the time to talk about creating wealth and ending poverty,” Mr Dogara added.