My article, “ASUU Strike and the Need for Tertiary Education Funding Reform in Nigeria,” was published in many online journals in Nigeria around March 23rd, 2022, including Insideoyo and Oyo Insight. In it, I elucidated the need for the then-administration of President Muhammad Buhari to introduce interest-free student loans as a panacea to the incessant annual ASUU strike, dwindling standards, and industrial unrest in all our tertiary educational institutions in Nigeria.
As a patriot and lover of education, I was glad when our new President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu signed the bill introducing the student loan into law on June 12, 2023. When I wrote the article, I was unaware of the existence of this bill. Neither did I know that there was a student loan system in Nigeria in the 1970s. I just wrote based on what I saw and benefited from in the USA for my post-graduate study. But ironically, the same act signed into law is being criticized by some people. Most significantly, institutions and bodies that will benefit most from it like the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP). The criticisms are possibly due to fear of the unknown as this concerns the breakdown of its potential and/or lack of knowledge and adequate information on how it will work. Hence, this write-up aims to allay the likely fears and highlight the benefits derivable from the student loan system when fully operational.
Speaking on Channels television last Sunday, the President of ASUU, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke stated that the student loan initiative was not sustainable because it was introduced in 1972 and it failed. Prof Osodeke was also of the opinion that it would lead to a heavy loan burden on fresh graduates which might culminate in mass arrest and imprisonment of defaulters. He argued further that suicide would become an option for young beneficiaries who might have found it difficult to pay back as agreed. Like the ASUU President, another speaker on television condemned the loan processing system and the repayment plan as he understood it. All of this indicates that there is more to the opposition to this initiative than what is readily apparent.
Perhaps one of the greatest justification for the loud criticisms of this initiative is the lousy attitude of most Nigerians which bothers on non-commitment to loan repayment. Apart from this, some religious beliefs are against taking any loan. One writer came up with a photocopy of an advertisement for a loan defaulter list published in a newspaper in 1980. The writer submitted that this would be the plight of the new federal government gesture student loan system. Answers to these are easy to come by. Anyone whose religion is against student loans or credit taking may not apply for it. It is not mandatory to apply or request for it. Again, there is no country people don’t default on loans. People default on student loan in the UK, USA and Canada as well. However, with the introduction and adoption of the digital profile of Nigerians with the National Identification Number (NIN) and Biodata Verification Number (BBN), the population of likely defaulters can be controlled and minimised. Needless to say such digital profiling was not available in the 1970 and 1980s.
The main fear of the academic unions ASUU and ASUP is based on the expected and inevitable reduction or stoppage of annual subvention being paid to the higher institutions by the various governments immediately after the students’ loan system is implemented. This has been made clear by Andrew David Adejo, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, on Wednesday, June 14th, 2023. This is because tuition will be paid directly to the higher institutions by the student loan board. This will be part of loans to be granted to the students. This means that the citadels of learning will be compelled to be frugal, disciplined and prudent in their financial management. Inference will grant full autonomy and independence to our higher institutions.
In the real sense, the government, students, and their parents have much to gain from this new policy. The merits of this policy are too enormous to mention, but the following seven will be elucidated. The ability and capability of the system to increase students’ performance cannot be overemphasised since the loan will not only pay their tuition, but it will also cover accommodation, books, transport, accommodation, and feeding. Hence, students can commit more time to reading, studying and research.
Once such loans have been approved, parents will no longer need to worry about paying for school fees and other needs for their adult students in higher institutions. However, parents who cannot pay for their wards may not apply for the loan.
The system will free students from sexual harassment and exploitation of their lecturers, as its currently being reported all across our institutions. Furthermore, female students who depend on ‘Aristo and runs’ to survive and cope with academic life will have a credible and decent alternative to a wayward lifestyle.
Like the above, male students engage in internet fraud and other vices to finance their education and lifestyle. A student loan system would go a long way toward reducing this social ill.
Many people will not like to hear that tertiary education is exceptionally cheap in Nigeria. Yet, graduates of Nigeria University compete with their colleagues exceptionally well in international performance. However, the standard of education is gradually declining due to the low morale of lecturers, lack of research materials, and obsolete books among several other factors. Adequate funding for these institutions will lift the standard above what it currently is.
As mentioned in my article last year, it will permanently stop the perennial industrial action of academic institutions. All institutions will no longer be dependent on the various tiers of government for funding. The economic rate of tuition will be collected, and the management of such institutions will now base their spending mainly on tuition collected in addition to occasional receipts of grants. The potential of the loan to over one million students in tertiary institutions in expanding consumption and boosting economic investment cannot be emphasized enough. Again, the expansion of consumption will also have a multiplier effect on our national economy.
Finally, it will make our students imbibe credit policy, which expands money in the economy and makes life more comfortable and blissful. Such a spirit of credit system will assist a lot in life when they become employed or employers of labour searching for business loans. However, the success or failure of this policy will depend mainly on the government policy and those put in place to implement it. The success of applications should be based on merit, not national character. Applications should be computer-based, and red tappism should be avoided. Most importantly, more information about this new policy should be made available to all stakeholders.
*Akinlabi sent in this piece from Igboora, Oyo State, via yemak01@aol.com
