The Founder of Afe Babalola University Ado Ekiti, Aare Afe Babalola, SAN, has faulted exclusion of students in private universities from the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, initiative of the Federal Government.
Babalola, who described the exclusion of private universities’ students from the students loan as unjust, called for their inclusion in the scheme.
The legal luminary spoke on Thursday at the International Hydrogen Summit 2024, held at the ABUAD campus, Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital.
He said: “TETFund was established by the Federal Government. Its source of fund is money collected from private organisations. We all know that private universities are precluded from accessing funds from TETFund.
“Recently, the federal government established the Students Loan Scheme. Again, students from private universities are precluded. Are they not Nigerians? Again, what have you done about it?
“Federal government gives money to public universities for research. I am not aware of any university (private or public) which has achieved more in research than ABUAD. Yet, ABUAD has not benefited from the government in this regard.”
In his keynote address at the occasion, the Minister of State for Environment, Iziaq Salako, said the country is at a critical juncture where it must transition to cleaner energy sources in a just and equitable manner.
According to the Minister, who was represented by the Director General of the Research Institute of Nigeria, Zachariah Buba, with 45 per cent of the population of Nigeria lacking access to the national electricity grid and more than 50 per cent of her households energy poor, green hydrogen has become the way out, saying it would also help the country to lead in the global decarbonisation effort.
He said: “This green hydrogen initiative is aligned with our broader climate goals, particularly Nigeria’s commitment under the Paris Agreement and our Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to voluntarily cut emissions by 20% by 2030 compared to a business as usual scenario.
“The development of green hydrogen will serve as a critical tool in achieving our long-term goal of net-zero emissions by 2060.”
In his remarks, the Ekiti State Governor, Biodun Oyebanji, noted that the green hydrogen initiative is more than just meeting the nation’s energy needs but an opportunity to position the country as a leader in the hydrogen economy.
Oyebanji who was represented by his wife, Olayemi Oyebanji, added that green hydrogen can help decarbonise industries that have been hard to clean up, such as heavy manufacturing, transportation, aviation companies.
Credit: thenationonlineng.net
