“People Who Took Loans Never Paid”: ASUU Advises President Tinubu to Convert Student Loan to Grant
- The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has once again reacted to the newly signed Student Loan Act
- President Bola Tinubu signed the Student Loan Bill into law to help indigent students access tertiary education
- ASUU President, Prof Emmanuel Osodeke, however, has called on President Tinubu to convert the loan into a grant
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The President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof Emmanuel Osodeke, has urged President Bola Tinubu to convert the newly signed Students Loans Act to a grant for disadvantaged students in the country.
President Bola Tinubu had on Monday, June 12, signed into law the Students Loans Bill to provide interest-free loans to poor Nigerian students to study in tertiary institutions.
Source: Facebook
The bill was sponsored by the Speaker of the 9th House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, who is now the President’s Chief of Staff, Channels Television reported.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics programme today, Osodeke said:
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“This would have been better if we are giving it to those set of students who are very poor, it should be called a grant, not a loan.
“It should be called a grant since it is coming from the Federation Account and not that (after) these people have access it and when they are graduating, they have heavy loads behind them and within two years, if they don’t pay, they go to jail. That’s why we’re talking about collective bargaining, you have views from all the sides.”
People who took loans never paid, ASUU President claims
Comparing the new Act with past loan programmes by previous governments, Osodeke said the student loan is unsustainable and practicable.
The ASUU President said:
“The idea of student loan came in 1972 and it was in a bank established. People who took loans never paid, you can go and investigate. In 1994, 1993, the military enacted Decree 50 also set up a Students’ Loan Board. The National Assembly domesticated it in 2004 and within a year, it went off. The money disappeared. We want to see how this one will be different.”
A lecturer at the Federal university, Oye-Ekiti, Wole Balogun, in an exclusive chat with Legit.ng said it's a good initiative from the government but expressed fear about the guidelines to access the loan are very stringent.
He added:
"Another is the tendency of government officials saddled with the responsibility to manage the loan to be corrupt and embezzled the money. So, government must ensure that the guide lines are well reviewed in a way to take care of those who truly need it."
President Bola Tinubu signs 3rd bill Into law within 15 days of resumption
Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that President Bola Tinubu had signed the student loan bill into law. This will be the third of its kind that the new Nigerian leader has signed since his assumption of office as the president.
This was disclosed in a video shared on the President's media page on Twitter, @ABATMediaCentre, on Monday, June 12.
Persons with criminal records, 4 other categories cannot access President Tinubu’s student loan
Legit.ng also reported that expectations of parents and students alike to acquire tertiary education have been high since the day President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on Monday, June 12, signed the Students Loan Bill into law.
The Students Loan Bill was the third of its kind that President Tinubu had signed since assuming office on Monday, May 29.
Nigerian students reveal what they want from President Tinubu’s administration
Nigerian students had made a list of what they expect from the administration of President Bola Tinubu after he was sworn in as Nigeria's 16th President on Monday, May 29.
Legit.ng spoke with some Nigerian students who, among other things, urged President Tinubu to address the incessant strikes by members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
Source: Legit.ng
