TheCable

Yakubu Dogara, former speaker of the house of representatives, has called on the federal government to include students of private universities among the beneficiaries of the student loan scheme.

The former speaker spoke on Saturday at the 13th convocation ceremony of Achievers University in Owo, Ondo state.

Dogara is the chancellor of the university.

He said there is a need for the government to ensure that the student loan scheme is properly managed for the benefit of the teeming youths across the country, both in private and public tertiary institutions.

“Let me appeal to the federal government to consider the plight being faced by students of tertiary institutions,” Dogara said.

“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.

“The scheme should also be properly managed for the benefit of the teeming youths of this country.”

Dogara added that underemployment and unemployment are the bedmates of poverty, noting that eliminating them must be the focal point of policies of the government.

“I have said before that poverty is by far the greatest threat to our democracy. Those who doubted me have seen that threat manifest itself in vote buying and in the use of money to compromise electoral and security officials,” he said.

“On account of the sense of despondency and powerlessness that poverty breads amongst the poor, the poor have and will always remain ever ready tools in the hands of tyrants and demagogues, who in the course of history have always found it easy to mobilise for the purposes of subverting democratic institutions.

“Since underemployment and unemployment are bedmates of poverty, eliminating them must be the focal point of government’s policies.

“If we do not ever make it to the point where we can have a rational conversation about economic justice, it would not be because it is impossible to achieve but because we lack the right leadership.

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

The former speaker also called on President Bola Tinubu to resist the temptation of blaming past leaders for the challenges in the country and should concentrate on finding solutions to the challenges.