Beneficiaries Of Student Loans In Other Countries Are Committing Suicide – ASUU

By Sola Omoniyi, Lagos

Following the signing of the student loan bill by President Ahmed Tinubu, the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has claimed that students who benefited from such a program are committing suicide.

This is according to Emmanuel Osodeke, ASUU president, urging the Federal Government to convert the student loan to a grant.

He stated that the Federal Government should have considered a collective bargain from all sides before signing the bill into law.

Osodeke maintained that the condition of the loan is not favourable for Nigerian students, adding that the beneficiaries of the same initiative in other countries were committing suicide due to debts.

Recall, the bill was sponsored by former House of Representatives speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, which aims to provide financial assistance to poor Nigerians to fund their education.

Any Nigerian student who benefited from the loan will commence repayment after two years of completing the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC.

Osodeke asserted that about 90 per cent of Nigerian students will not be able to repay the loan due to unemployment.

However, he urged the Federal Government to look for better alternative means of funding education instead of students whose parents earn N30,000 a month with a loan.