The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Bauchi Zone, has firmly declined the student loan initiative proposed by the federal government. ASUU emphasized that non-refundable grants should be extended to Nigerian students as opposed to the suggested loan system.
During the ‘Scholarship for Indigent Students’ program hosted at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU), Bauchi, Lazarus Maig-oro, the ASUU Bauchi Zonal Coordinator, conveyed this stance. He articulated concerns regarding the loan scheme, raising pertinent questions about its repayment responsibility and the predicament of those unable to access it.
Maig-oro highlighted the potential psychological distress that students could undergo as a result of accruing loans while still pursuing their studies, asserting that such pressure could significantly impede their academic performance. He underscored the looming burden on graduates who would exit university with a loan exceeding N4 million, lacking the means to reimburse it.
The stringent eligibility criteria attached to the loan, as mentioned, could result in students being unable to secure it, potentially leading to a rise in dropouts, particularly amidst the current landscape of increased public university fees nationwide. Maig-oro further emphasized that ASUU Bauchi Zone is actively collecting data on students at risk of discontinuing their education by the session’s end, hoping to prompt the government to reconsider its loan policy and substitute it with grants.
Expressing concern over the prevailing economic hardships faced by students, the ASUU Zonal Coordinator underscored the government’s apparent neglect of its constitutional duty to fund universities. This abandonment has been observed in the discretion handed to various university governing councils, resulting in adverse effects, including student dropouts.
