Nigeria’s powerful university lecturers’ union has rejected a new Federal Government loan scheme for tertiary institution staff, warning that it risks worsening rather than solving the sector’s problems.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Calabar Zone, said on Monday that the Tertiary Institutions Staff Support Loan Scheme was “a poisoned chalice” that failed to address systemic underfunding and poor pay.
Zonal Coordinator Ikechuku Igwenyi told reporters in Uyo that the scheme was launched without consultation and imposed “stringent conditions” that would be impossible for academics to meet. “Even professors cannot repay a ₦10 million loan in four years. Instead of revitalising universities and honouring the 2009 agreement, government is tying staff and students into debt,” he said.
ASUU has long demanded improved funding, salary reviews, and autonomy for universities. Igwenyi noted that lecturers are still paid under a 17-year-old salary structure, despite soaring inflation. He said many members were struggling to survive, with reports of deaths and illnesses linked to poor remuneration.
He added that Nigeria’s public universities had become “obsolete, dilapidated and weak” due to decades of neglect.
The government has invited ASUU leaders for talks on 28 August. The union warned that the outcome would determine whether universities remain stable or face fresh disruption.
Observers say the confrontation underscores the fragile state of Nigeria’s higher education system, which has been repeatedly paralysed by ASUU strikes in recent years, displacing millions of students and stalling academic progress.
