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From Abdulrazaq Mungadi, Gombe
The Pro-Chancellor and Founder of North-Eastern University (NEU), Gombe, Dr Adamu Jauro, has criticised the Federal Government’s student loan policy, describing the exclusion of private university students as discriminatory, unjust, and damaging to Nigeria’s education system.
Speaking in an interview, Dr Jauro argued that barring students in private universities from accessing the student loan scheme undermines equity and contradicts the policy’s stated objective of expanding access to higher education.
“Students in private universities are not allowed to access student loans, and that is discriminatory. It is unfair,” he said, noting that most parents and guardians who send their children to private institutions are taxpayers whose contributions fund the scheme.
He questioned the rationale behind the policy, pointing out that private universities and schools pay education tax, yet their students are denied access to education financing supported by the same tax revenue. According to him, there is no credible justification for excluding private university students, who are equally Nigerian and entitled to public education support.
Dr Jauro said access to student loans would enable more families to consider private universities, thereby reducing pressure on public institutions that lack the capacity to absorb the country’s growing number of admission seekers. He warned that the current framework leaves many qualified students without opportunities, despite the availability of private institutions.
“I have never seen a system where people are discriminated against in access to education. This is one of the greatest shortcomings of this policy,” he said, calling on the government to urgently review and correct what he described as a flawed and contradictory approach.
The NEU founder also faulted the continued exclusion of private universities from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), despite their statutory payment of education tax. He argued that government support for private universities does not necessarily translate into profit for proprietors, noting that intervention can be directed toward shared infrastructure and academic resources.
According to him, such support could include roads, water supply, libraries, internet connectivity, and access to digital learning platforms, all of which directly benefit students rather than university owners.
“Public universities benefiting from TETFund do not pay education tax, yet private universities that pay into the fund are excluded. Why rob Peter to pay Paul?” he asked.
Dr Jauro stressed that government policy should focus on strengthening Nigeria’s university education system as a whole, ensuring minimum standards across institutions and guaranteeing quality education for all students, regardless of ownership structure.
“If you starve private universities, you are starving Nigerian children studying there,” he said, urging authorities to adopt clear performance-based criteria that allow well-managed private universities to access support, while excluding institutions that fail to meet required standards.
