Rapper Ice Prince reveals how N20,000 stopped his university dreams
Abdullateef Fowewe
The presidency has revealed the major reason behind President Bola Tinubu’s students’ loan initiative.
A Nigeria rapper, Panshak Zamani better known as Ice Prince, while speaking on podcast disclosed that he didn’t attend higher education because he couldn’t avoid paying N20,000.
He said, “I am an orphan and the only son in a large family that depends on me. I don’t have aunties, uncles, or godparents to rely on. It’s been nothing but God in my life, and I want people to look at my journey and think, If this imperfect human can make it, then nobody has an excuse to fail.
“I was the guy who, every term, would spend at least three weeks at home because of school fees. Let me tell you why I didn’t attend university: it was because of N20K. I had about two weeks to come up with that money, but I couldn’t, and that’s how I lost my admission.
“From there, I became a studio rat. I could’ve turned to the streets or done street stuff, especially since I come from a very dangerous place called Jos. Jos is calm and peaceful now, but back then it was like ‘New York.’
“I did menial jobs: I worked as a pool table attendant and made leather slippers just to get by.
I was born into some privilege, my dad was rich when he was alive, but after he passed away, things changed. I’m not academically inclined or very smart, but I am grateful, and I thank God for my life.”
Reacting to the Ice Prince story, the Special Adviser to the President on Policy Communication, Daniel Bwala, stated Tinubu is aware that the government has previously failed Nigeria’s youth, stating that he came up with the student loan initiative to take significant burdens off the parents.
“He knows government has failed you in the past, but the student loan, like every other initiative of the Renewed Hope administration, is here to put smiles on your faces and take significant burdens off of our parents.
“His well thought-out student loan initiative is ensuring that no Nigerian young people are disenfranchised from achieving their dreams of higher education; that sons and daughters of market women, farmers, and artisans can get quality and affordable education and compete favourably with Children of the elites.
“This is one of the ideals of the Renewed Hope administration. This is what the President intends to achieve, and that’s what the @NELFUND has been doing effectively since creation by this administration,” Bwala had written.
