ASUU, ASUP, Reacts to Student Loan Bill
President Bola Tinubu, on Monday 12 June, in Abuja, signed the Student Loan Bill into law.
The signing of the bill was in “fulfilment of one of his campaign promises to liberalise funding of education,” a member of the Presidential Strategic Team, Dele Alake, told State House Correspondents.
The loan bill will enable indigent students to access loans at interest-free rates.
According to news reports the piece of legislation, sponsored by the Speaker of the 9th House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, passed the third reading at the House on May 25, 2023.
National President, ASUU, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, in an interview with The PUNCH, said, “The union will react soon but everyone knows our position on student loans because you will end up encumbering the children of the poor with loans and debt after graduating. This is discriminatory. If what I read online is correct, it said it is only for children whose parents earn at least N500,000 per annum. That means if your father earns more, you won’t benefit.”
Similarly, the National President, Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, Mr. Anderson Ezeibe, said, “I have not studied the bill and we don’t want to react on the surface. But I have seen one area that will not be practicable.
“It says that students should refund the money two years after NYSC. But what is the provision for someone who is not working after NYSC? And will they all get jobs immediately after NYSC?”
Source: The Punch
