ASUU insisted that the proposed loan to students would become a liability for them before they even graduate.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has once again condemned the Federal Government’s decision to earmark ₦50 billion for the student loan scheme, insisting that it should be converted to grants.
Having signed the student loan bill into law on June 12, 2023, President Bola Tinubu announced in October that the scheme will come on stream in January 2024, with the Federal Government voting ₦50bn for the programme in next year’s budget.
The law was aimed at providing easy access to higher education for indigent Nigerian students through interest-free loans from the Nigerian Education Loan Trust.
However, the academic union has severally stood against the policy, suggesting other initiatives that could have far-reaching positive effects on the targeted students.
Doubling down on the body’s position, ASUU president Prof Emmanuel Osodeke suggested that allocating the 50 billion naira as grants would have had more impact and be a humane investment in the education of Nigerian students.
He made the argument while appearing on Channels Television‘s Hard Copy programme on Friday, December 15, 2023.
“If the issue is just ₦50 billion, why can’t we convert that ₦50 billion as a country like Nigeria to grants for the children of the very poor?
“Let’s give to those who cannot afford it, not give them as a loan that becomes a liability for them before they even graduate and not sure of getting a job.
“We are thinking of the Nigerian people, those who cannot afford it, those children who are in the villages whose parents earn less than N30,000 a month,” Osodeke said.
“If it is just about 50 billion, the Nigerian government should give that 50 billion as grants to the students rather than giving it as a loan that will encumbrance them in the future and could make them start going to crime, in order to pay for this loan,” he said.
Recalling previous attempts at introducing a student loan scheme in Nigeria, the union leader questioned its success, pointing out that such initiatives had failed on two occasions in the past.
“In such a country where you easily have access to Job after graduation cannot pay it back and they are suffering, or people committing suicide. Is it in Nigeria where the children are sure that even in 10 years, you might not get the employment that they can pay back the loan?” he asked.
