*Abuja, Nigeria* –
The President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof Emmanuel Osodeke, has issued a stark warning, cautioning that a significant portion of students could be forced to leave school within the next two to three years if the federal government does not take immediate action to halt the arbitrary increment in university tuition fees.
Prof Osodeke sounded this alarm during an interview on Channels TV, where he addressed the current state of the education sector in Nigeria. The ASUU leader accused universities of imposing unwarranted fee hikes and emphasized that government policies should aim to attract more students to educational institutions.
“Today, universities are arbitrarily increasing school fees. Is that correct in an environment where the minimum wage is N30,000 per month, and individuals already face financial burdens such as rent and transportation costs?” Prof Osodeke questioned during the interview.
He went on to warn of the potential consequences if the issue of rising school fees is not addressed promptly: “If nothing is done about these heavy fees being introduced by schools all over the country, in the next two or three years, more than 40 to 50 per cent of these children who are in school today will drop out.”
The ASUU President also highlighted the broader societal impact of a mass exodus of students from educational institutions, stating, “When they drop out, they will become a big feed for recruitment for those who want this country to be ungovernable.”
Prof Osodeke called for a return to the education policies of the 1960s and 1970s, emphasizing the need to create an environment where children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds can access quality education. He expressed concern over exorbitant school fees, stating, “School fees of N300,000, how can the children of someone who earns N50,000 a month be able to pay such a fee?”
Furthermore, the ASUU leader urged the government to allocate a larger portion of the national budget to education, proposing an allocation of at least 15 per cent of the total budget sum. He criticized the previous budget’s allocation of a mere 3.8 per cent to education, stressing that increased budgetary support would alleviate the financial burden on parents and students.
Prof Osodeke also questioned the feasibility of the government’s student loan policy, arguing that there were no indications it would effectively serve its intended purpose. He suggested a comprehensive review of the policy and proposed referring to it as a grant rather than a loan, considering the challenging conditions that might prevent many students from accessing loans.
He commented, “If you look at the conditions, 90 per cent of the students will not have access to that loan. The condition that you must have parents who earn less than N500,000 per annum [is harsh]. How many people earn less than N500,000 per annum?”
