The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in the Calabar Zone has strongly criticized the Federal Government’s newly introduced student loan scheme, labeling it as a calculated attempt to enslave Nigerian students by indebting them perpetually.
Last Friday marked the official launch of the Federal
Government’s student loan program, with the application portal opening to an
overwhelming response—3,764 students from 126 institutions submitted
applications on the first day alone.
The government asserts that the initiative aims to ensure
that financial constraints do not prevent any Nigerian youth from pursuing
higher education.
However, during a press conference in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State,
on Monday, Dr. Happiness Uduk, Zonal Chairperson of ASUU, expressed grave
concerns over the student loan scheme.
Dr. Uduk condemned it as a “ploy to enslave Nigerian
youths,” criticizing the irony of leaders who themselves benefited from
scholarships, meal subsidies, and bursaries now imposing loans on students.
“It is disheartening that people who attended schools on
scholarship, enjoyed meal subsidies, free laundry services, and bursary awards
are the same running our economy today,” Uduk stated.
“Their children are
on scholarship in the best foreign universities in the world but after
siphoning our economy, they turn around to impose a strangulating education
loan on taxpayers’ children who will be enslaved and remain indebted to the
country forever.
They do not mind the devastating effect of this scheme on
the country, such as depression, suicide, and colossal loss of intellectuals.”
ASUU’s National President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, has also
been a vocal critic of the loan scheme, advocating instead for the provision of
bursaries to support students.
Dr. Uduk, in a joint statement with eight union
chairpersons, argued that rather than offering loans, the Federal Government
should provide subventions to higher institutions, which would foster a
positive transformation within tertiary education.
“To this end, we vehemently condemn the idea of education
loans and state clearly that using the money for intervention in higher
institutions will bring about a positive turnaround of events that will make
our institutions self-reliant with highly subsidized tertiary education in
Nigeria,” Uduk declared.
ASUU’s demands extend beyond the student loan issue. Dr.
Uduk called on the Federal Government to return to the negotiation table and
re-evaluate the agreement reached between ASUU leadership and the Prof. Nimi
Brigs-led government committee, aiming to update the terms in light of current
economic conditions and establish an acceptable salary structure for university
lecturers.
Dr. Uduk also criticized the unregulated establishment of
new universities without sufficient funding from both federal and state
governments.
She emphasized the importance of implementing the 2020
ASUU-FGN Memorandum of Action, which includes a review of the National
Universities Commission (NUC) Act to prevent the reckless proliferation of
universities.
“We urge the President Tinubu-led administration to refrain
from further proliferation of universities and rather consolidate on the
already existing ones.
What we need are universities that are adequately equipped
and empowered to address the challenges confronting Nigeria, not glorified
schools,” she asserted.