FG foreign scholarship beneficiaries lament unpaid eight-month

Nigerian students studying in Russia, Morocco, Algeria, China, Hungary, and other countries, on the Federal Government’s scholarship have lamented their unpaid stipends for eight months running.

The students are studying under the Federal Government’s Bilateral Educational Agreement Scholarship.

The BEA scholarship is for the purpose of education exchange between Nigeria and the partnering countries.

The scholarship scheme is being supervised by the Federal Scholarship Board under the Federal Ministry of Education.

In a statement on Wednesday, the President of the Union of Nigerian Students under the Federal Government-controlled Bilateral Educational Agreement Scholarship,  Ayuba Anas, said the scholars had not been paid for close to eight months.

 Anas said,“For the past six to eight months, scholars enrolled in various institutions abroad have endured financial strain due to the delay in receiving their stipends.

“In addition, from the last payments we received (March-August), there was a shortfall of practically two and a half months’ payment. Moreover, some students in China have not received any stipends since they arrived in April and May 2023.

“This delay has led to dire consequences, especially for those residing in countries like Morocco, where the country doesn’t have adequate provisions for school hostels, unlike the other sister BEA countries. This means that stipends are crucial for covering basic expenses such as housing, electricity bills, handouts, internet bills, water bills, transportation, and food.

“Regrettably, some students have faced eviction as they struggled to meet rent payments, while others have tragically fallen ill due to hunger, requiring urgent medical attention. These hardships persist amidst the ongoing delay in stipend disbursement.”

According to Anas, scholars in Russia “are grappling with the harsh reality of an increased cost of living, exacerbated by the prolonged delay in stipend disbursement.”

“Forced to navigate financial hardships amidst the pressures of academic stress, many students have been pushed to the breaking point which is diverting their focus from their primary goal of academic excellence,” he said.

The students said while they were aware of the current economic realities back home in Nigeria, the terms of the education exchange programme did not allow them to take up any job to aid themselves.

They implored the Federal Government to recognise their plight and take immediate action to alleviate their suffering.

“We earnestly plead with our President, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as a father figure and a visionary in education, to intervene in this pressing matter.

“His intervention in ensuring the prompt disbursement of our stipends will not only alleviate our current hardships but also allow us, his scholars, to focus wholeheartedly on our studies. We are confident that under President Tinubu’s compassionate and forward-thinking leadership, swift action will be taken to resolve this issue, enabling us to continue our academic pursuits without the burden of financial strain.”

No official at the Federal Ministry of Education replied to inquiries by our correspondent on the matter at the time of filing this report.