The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has called on the Federal Government to transform the 50 billion naira allocated in the 2024 budget for the student loan scheme into grants. 

Emmanuel Osodeke, the President of ASUU, appeared on Channels Television’s Hard Copy on Friday, highlighting the challenge of repaying loans in a country where post-graduation employment is uncertain as the basis for the Union’s proposal. 

The ASUU president proposed that channelling the 50 billion nairas into grants would yield a more impactful and compassionate investment in the education of Nigerian students. 

• “If the issue is just N50 billion, why can’t we convert that N50 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 are 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.  
• “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, to pay for this loan,” he said.  

Condition for the loan unrealistic — ASUU 

Drawing from past administrations’ attempts to introduce student loans, Osodeke expressed scepticism about the success of student loans, underscoring the failure of similar initiatives on two separate occasions. 

In addition, he criticised the terms tied to the loan, expressing concern that they put students in rural areas at an economic disadvantage. 

Addressing the budget allocation for the year, Osodeke raised doubts about the impact of a 50 billion naira loan, asking,

• “How many people will 50 billion go to as a loan?” 
• “Look at the conditionality, which level 12 officer will sign for the children of the poor in the village to get access to the loan? How much was budgeted this year? — 50 billion…how many people will 50 billion go to as a loan? 
• “In such a country where you easily have access to a 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 said.  

Backstory 

President Bola Tinubu signed the student loan bill into law on June 12. 

The objective of the law is to offer indigent Nigerians convenient access to higher education by facilitating interest-free loans through the Nigerian Education Loan Fund. 

President Tinubu also revealed in October that the program would kick off in January 2024, and the Federal Government has earmarked N50 billion in the 2024 budget to support it. 

[Nairametrics]