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.
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