Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has promised to review the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) scheme and forgive the debts of qualifying students if elected.
Atiku’s position was made known by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, in a statement on Tuesday evening.
Shaibu said Atiku does not believe Nigerian students should be forced to begin their working lives with heavy education debts.
He said the former vice president would focus on reducing the cost of education and, after reviewing the existing student-loan system, introduce debt forgiveness for students who meet the required conditions.
“His approach will reduce the underlying cost of education and, after review, provide forgiveness for qualifying student debts so that young Nigerians can graduate with hope rather than repayment burdens. Education should open doors, not mortgage the future”, said Shaibu.
The statement was in response to a post by President Bola Tinubu on X, in which the President defended his economic policies while criticising Atiku’s position on the economy without naming him directly.
Shaibu rejected Tinubu’s use of NELFUND as evidence that education had become more affordable under his administration.
He argued that the government had allowed education costs to rise in some institutions before offering loans to students struggling to meet the higher fees.
“Celebrating NELFUND as proof that education has become affordable under your government is like setting school fees on fire and then boasting that you lent students a bucket of water. What exactly is the wisdom in presiding over dramatic increases in school fees in some institutions, only to turn around and celebrate loans as the solution?”, he queried.
Shaibu described the approach as “witchcraft economics”, saying the government was creating a financial burden for students and then offering loans as a solution.
“You make education more expensive, lend students money to survive the increase, and then demand applause for the rescue. That is not affordability. It is witchcraft economics: create the burden with one hand, offer debt with the other, and demand applause for the intervention.”
He said a student loan should not be presented as a scholarship or proof that education was affordable.
According to him, the real test of an education policy should be whether Nigerian families can afford to keep their children in school without having to borrow money.
Shaibu also accused the Presidency of trying to scare students and workers by suggesting that Atiku’s proposed plan to reduce energy costs would affect NELFUND, workers’ salaries or the minimum wage.
“If your government has the arithmetic, Bola, publish it. Show Nigerians, line by line, how a transparently budgeted subsidy tied to Nigerian crude and domestic refining suddenly empties NELFUND or workers’ pay packets”, he demanded.
Shaibu said Atiku’s plan would instead seek to reduce the cost of energy and transportation, allowing workers’ incomes to stretch further and reducing the amount spent by students and families on basic needs.
“Reduce the cost of energy so that salaries buy more. Reduce transport costs so that less of a worker’s wage disappears merely getting to work. You cannot make life painfully expensive, push students towards debt to survive the consequences, and then frighten those same students that cheaper fuel will take their loans away”, he declared.
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