President Bola Tinubu has urged youths to key into the student loan scheme introduced by his administration. The President made the appeal in a national broadcast on Sunday on the ongoing nationwide protest. He said his administration had shown commitment to the youth by setting up the student loan scheme. 'To date, N45.6 billion has already been processed for payment to students and their respective institutions. 'I encourage more of our vibrant youth population to take advantage of this opportunity,' said the President. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the President had said, on July 17, when he inaugurated the student loan scheme that it was tool to fight poverty. He said the student loan scheme aligned with his administration's commitment to inclusiveness and assured sufficient funding to sustain the programme. 'Democracy is all about inclusiveness. Our target is to build a society on successful inclusiveness,' he said. He added that education was the greatest weapon against poverty i n any society, which he said was essential for vision, development, and successfully combating insecurity, including terrorism and banditry. The President had presented cheques to students from each of Nigeria's six geo-political zones. About N32 billion is currently available for disbursement to kickstart the programme. As at May 25, when the application portal opened, 164,000 students had registered, with 103,000 applying for loans. The initiative, which became law on April 3, 2024, as the Student Loans (Access to Higher Education) Act, aims at empowering Nigerian youths by providing fair, transparent funding and removing financial barriers to educational opportunities. Source: News Agency of Nigeria