The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has voiced its strong opposition to the proposed education loan scheme, expressing concerns that it would lead students into perpetual debt. Following its National Executive Council meeting at the Niger Delta University, Wilberforce Island, Bayelsa State, ASUU released a statement on Thursday, highlighting its surprise at the Bola Tinubu-led administration’s failure to fulfill promises made during the nationwide strike from February to October 2022.
ASUU emphasized the historical challenge of successive Nigerian governments not fully implementing agreements, including payment of Earned Academic Allowance, the renegotiation of the 2009 ASUU-FGN agreement, removal from the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System, and revitalization funds. The union raised concerns that the proposed Students Loan Scheme, advocated by international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank, would deplete funding for public universities.
In their statement, ASUU stated, “The scheme is a way of starving public universities of funding and a ploy to divert public funds into private universities owned by politically exposed individuals and their friends. The students’ loan scheme will mortgage the entire university system and keep our promising students in perpetual indebtedness.”
ASUU suggested that if the government genuinely aimed to invest in students’ lives, grants and scholarships should be provided, and the Needs-Based Budgeting System should be reinstated for greater efficiency in the university system. The National President of ASUU, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, condemned the significant fee hikes in schools and advocated for funds diverted from government treasuries to be utilized in funding universities.
The statement read, “NEC condemns in its entirety the wave of fee hike without inputs of the victims across our campuses. Daily scandalous reports of stupendous funds diverted from government treasuries at state and Federal levels reinforce our belief that resources available to the country could support government-funded university education without excessive pressures on parents as currently done.”
ASUU pointed out that if the Federal Government had adhered to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) from 2013, providing N1.3 trillion over six years, many universities could have been restored to a level conducive for attracting foreign students and conducting cutting-edge research. The union challenged the Tinubu administration to conduct a needs assessment to verify the call for massive intervention in public universities.
