The Academic Staff Union of the Universities (ASUU) has demanded that President Bola Tinubu change the law on student loans that he approved, to scholarship to give low-income students access to higher education.
In an interview with journalist on Sunday, the ASUU president said that the student loan is not possible. According to him, giving loans to study “will not last”.
Professor Emmanuel Osodeke said, “the idea of providing student loans came in 1972 and it was part of the business of established banks”.
He claimed that the people who took the loan, never paid, you can go and check. In 1994 or 1993, the military enacted Military Law No. 1 and established a student loan agency. It was then reformed by Parliament in 2004 and within a year, it disbanded. The money disappeared. We want to see how this will be different”.
According to him, there are over one million students in Nigerian government universities and the loan cannot cover the cost of the students’ education.
The President Tinubu signed the Student Loans Act to fulfill his campaign promise.
The Speaker of the 9th House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, who is now the Chief of Staff to the President, took the responsibility of presenting the bill of the law in Parliament.
The law provides for the provision of interest-free loans to low-income students in Nigeria.