Four days after President Bola Tinubu transmitted letters to the Senate and House of Representatives seeking repeal and reenactment of the Student Loan Bill, the National Assembly is set to hold a public hearing on the proposed legislation, The Guardian can authoritatively report. 
  
In an invitation sighted by our correspondent yesterday, the two legislative chambers would a joint public hearing today. Recall that the bill passed first and second readings on both hallowed chambers last Thursday. 
  
Dated March 15, 2024 with Reference Number NASS/C/S/HR/65/001,  the letter was signed by Clerk of the joint committee, Halima Sadiya Musa.   Titled ‘Invitation to attend a joint public hearing on the Students Loan Bill’, the correspondence reads: “The Senate and House of Representatives at their Plenary sittings deliberated on the Student Loans “Access To Higher Education” Bill (Repeal and Reenactment) Bill 2024; and referred same to the Joint Committee for further legislative action. 
  
“In line with this, the Joint Committee is organising a one-day public bearing on the bill on Monday, March 18, 2024, at Conference Room 107, Senate New Building, National Assembly Complex, Abuja by 11:00am.  
 
“I am further directed to invite you to the hearing, and make a presentation (if any) on the Bill. Find attached a copy of the Bill.” In an interview, a public affairs analyst, Taiye Odewale, lamented that the time was too short to come up with a flawless document. He wondered why input into a public document would be made ‘secret’ by the legislature. 
   
Describing the proposed legislation as a welcome development, he said inadequate time would not allow relevant stakeholders to make needed input to improve the bill. 
  
Investigations revealed that not all stakeholders are invited for the programme.  For instance, while a civil society organisation, Education Rights Campaign (ERC), said it was not invited for the public hearing, the Civil Society Action Coalition on Education For All (CSACEFA), however confirmed the invitation by the joint committee. 
  
ActionAid Nigeria, on the other hand, promised getting across, a pledge that was not fulfilled at press time.  National Mobilisation Officer of ERC, Adaramoye Michael Lenin said: “That is quite terrible; not receiving an invite despite our public opinion on the students’ loan scheme.”