The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Calabar Zone, has expressed skepticism regarding the Federal Government’s student loan program, labeling it as a tactic to ensnare Nigerian students in perpetual indebtedness to the nation.
The Federal Government officially launched the student loan program last Friday with the opening of the loan application portal. The government stated that the initiative aimed to ensure that no Nigerian youth is deprived of higher education due to financial constraints.
However, speaking at a press conference in Uyo, the capital of Akwa Ibom State, ASUU Zonal Chairperson Dr. Happiness Uduk insisted that the student loan program was designed to enslave Nigerian youths.
Uduk expressed dismay that individuals who themselves benefited from scholarships, meal subsidies, and other forms of financial aid during their education were now implementing a loan scheme for students.
The National President of ASUU, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, has also criticized the student loan program, advocating for the provision of bursaries to students instead.
Uduk, in a statement co-signed by eight union chairpersons, argued that rather than offering loans, the Federal Government should provide subsidies to higher institutions, which would result in positive changes in the tertiary education sector.
She emphasized, “We strongly condemn the concept of education loans and firmly state that channeling the funds into interventions in higher institutions will lead to positive outcomes, making our institutions self-sustaining while providing highly subsidized tertiary education in Nigeria.”
Uduk urged the Federal Government to reconvene a committee to review the agreement between ASUU leadership and the Prof. Nimi Brigs-led government committee, aiming to adjust it according to current economic realities for an acceptable salary structure for university lecturers.
Furthermore, she criticized the unchecked proliferation of universities in Nigeria without adequate funding from both federal and state governments, calling for the full implementation of the 2020 ASUU-FGN Memorandum of Action to address this issue.
Regarding ongoing minimum wage negotiations, the ASUU Calabar Zone urged the Federal Government to utilize collective bargaining to conclude social dialogue promptly, aiming to mitigate the adverse impact on the socio-economic well-being of Nigerians.
