February 07, (THEWILL) – The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), has asked the House of Representatives to drop the Students’ Loan Bill currently before it, saying the bill is totally unnecessary.
ASUU President, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, who gave this position in an exclusive interview with Nigerian Tribune, said there was simply no basis for such a bill to have been introduced in the first instance in the House, let alone members debating it to become a policy in a country as Nigeria, with a high burden of graduates’ unemployment.
According to him, it is obvious that most graduates in the country, especially those from poor homes without connection to high profile persons in the society, don’t get a job many years even up to 10 or more years after graduation and let assume such a graduate has incurred a loan of up to N6 million or more while in school, how would he or she pay back such loan?
“And we should not also pretend not to know that such loan would have matured in about 10 years up to more than double of the principal amount and so, if those students don’t get a job since getting a job is not an automatic thing, how would such a graduate pay back or if his or her father, who is earning about N30,000 monthly as salary helps in paying back such a loan?
“So, I think we should all be realistic and not deceive ourselves any longer in Nigeria as this policy cannot work, at least for now and also not in near future in our country”, he emphasised.
The Students’ Loan Bill is being sponsored by the Speaker of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila.
On the poor funding of education in Nigeria, the ASUU boss, said what the political leaders across tiers lack is the political will to commit significant resources to the education sector. And more so, that majority of them have their children studying abroad, or at worse in private schools in the country.
He said that was why their annual budgets on education over time have always been below 10 percent of their respective budgets as they believe they have almost nothing to lose.
Prof. Osodeke said a way out of this scenario that would make the education sector stands out and performs its roles is for the government at all levels to fund education well, by allocating a tangible percentage of their annual budgets that would up to 20 percent or more to education; adding that it was how it is being done in developed countries and even in neighbouring Ghana.
About the Author
