The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has raised concerns over the proposed education loan scheme, warning that it could plunge students into perpetual debt.
Following its National Executive Council meeting at the Niger Delta University, Wilberforce Island, Bayelsa State, ASUU expressed disappointment over unmet promises from the Bola Tinubu-led administration to address lingering issues that led to a nationwide strike from February to October 2022.
ASUU criticized successive governments for failing to honor agreements, including the payment of Earned Academic Allowance and the 2009 ASUU-FGN agreement’s renegotiation.
The union also cited issues like the non-implementation of revitalization funds and withheld salaries.
The statement from ASUU reiterated the union’s rejection of the Students Loan Scheme, which it believes would deprive public universities of funding and funnel public funds into private institutions owned by politically connected individuals.
ASUU cautioned that such a scheme would burden students with insurmountable debt, citing failures in better-managed economies and Nigeria’s prevalent corruption and nepotism.
ASUU proposed that state and federal governments should instead provide grants and scholarships to students and restore the Needs-Based Budgeting System for universities.
The union’s National President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, condemned the steep fee hikes in schools, urging the government to allocate diverted funds to support universities without burdening parents.
Furthermore, ASUU urged the Tinubu administration to conduct a needs assessment to determine the necessary intervention in public universities, reminiscent of the response to a similar challenge in 2012, which led to a substantial funding allocation subsequently abrogated by the government.