Prof. Gbolahan Bolarin, ASUU chapter head of the Federal University of Technology, Minna, has denounced President Bola Tinubu’s student loan bill.
The academic don said the law needed more work because Nigeria’s peculiarities weren’t examined before signing it into law.
He said Nigeria’s government wants to consider what is available in Nigeria before copying other countries ‘ projects.
He noted that the high graduate unemployment rate and low minimum wage may make it hard for students to repay the loan.
Prof. Bolarin said ASUU opposed the law from the start because it was “dead on arrival” and unfeasible.
According to Punch, “The problem in Nigeria is that we steal policies from other nations and wish to imitate them without understanding the context here. Nigerian jobs: where? 20-year-old graduates are unemployed. As you repay, another borrower gets the loan.
“Now that the scheme provides N1m per year, say a student comes to FUTMinna and remains for five years. You will receive N5m, but will you acquire a job to pay it back? The minimum wage is N30,000 today. Is it possible?
ASUU opposed it initially due to these problems. This plan is unsustainable. “You can see universities boosting prices, more universities will do this since governing bodies of schools are seeking for methods to fund schools; before you know it, public university enrolment will decrease.”
Naija News says The immediate-past Speaker of the House of Representatives and new Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, sponsored the measure signed by President Tinubu on Monday. The National Assembly passed it in November 2022.
The Nigerian education bank would handle, supervise, coordinate, and monitor student loans under the law.
The law requires the bank to assess student loan applications submitted by higher schools.
