Nigeria offers students loans - they want jobs - BBC News

Two massive reforms are aimed at improving Nigeria's dilapidated universities - but will they work?

2 days agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Nduka Orjinmo/BBCImage caption, Freshers Aminu Sadiya (L) and Mercy Sunday are concerned about taking the loan but not getting jobs after graduatingBy Nduka OrjinmoBBC News, AbujaThere is a buzz in the home of Esther Abu, where mother and daughters have just heard about a new law that will see poor Nigerian families given loans to send their children to university.

Mrs Abu's youngest, a teenager who speaks like she is rapping, is leaving secondary school next month. She loves computer engineering but knows that her mother, a single parent whose salary as a street sweeper hardly provides enough food for the family - and has to be supplemented from alms given mostly by her church - does not have the money to send her to university.

Her eldest completed secondary school two years ago and immediately began work as a hair stylist to support the family who live in Mararaba, a congested suburb on the outskirts of Abuja.

"As a girl I dreamed of working as a doctor," says 21-year-old Eunice.

Both now have a chance, albeit slim, of reviving their dreams, as the government says it will provide loans to pay the tuition fees for people from such poor backgrounds. However many questions have been raised about the scheme.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-65962773?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA

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