The Federal Government has approved N4bn for the payment of allowances to Nigerian students studying abroad under the Bilateral Education Agreement.
The approval follows outcries from the beneficiaries who had lamented that they were being pushed into forced labour and prostitution due to prolonged hardship occasioned by the nonpayment of their allowance by the Federal Government.
Speaking with Sunday PUNCH on Saturday, the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, disclosed that the fund, representing part of the N8bn budgeted for the programme this year, had been released as the first tranche to address outstanding payments owed to the scholars.
“The Federal Ministry of Finance has approved N4bn to pay the first tranche, and I am working with the Minister of Finance to settle the remaining N4bn. Hopefully, in the next few weeks, they will receive all their allowances for 2025 and 2026.
“I share and sympathise with them. We are working day and night to ensure they get the funds. Our commitment is that existing students will be fully funded. In the last few years, however, funding this scholarship has been challenging.
“The total budget for this year was N8bn to fund the remaining students currently in training. If we invest N8bn in the education sector locally, we will get more results, but this remains a government obligation,” the minister said.
According to him, efforts are ongoing between both ministries to ensure that all outstanding payments are cleared, with the balance expected to be released within four weeks.
The development follows a disturbing viral video from affected students across countries, including Russia, Serbia and Venezuela, who said delays in stipends spanning over a year had left many struggling to survive, with some resorting to menial jobs while others claimed female students had been forced into prostitution.
The outcry comes barely a year after the Federal Government terminated the scholarship programme and promised to ensure that current students are funded to complete their studies.
In 2025, the minister cited inefficiency and misallocation of national resources as reasons for terminating the programme, following similar complaints from previous beneficiaries.
The programme, established through diplomatic partnerships, had enabled Nigerian students to study in countries such as China, Russia, Hungary, Morocco, Algeria, Egypt and Serbia.
“In 2024, when I assumed office, I was asked to approve N650m for 60 students going to Morocco under the BEA programme. I refused. It’s not fair to Nigerian students,” the minister said.
He explained that the scheme had become unsustainable, noting that the government planned to spend about N9bn on just 1,200 students in 2025.
However, the minister assured that all current beneficiaries of the scheme would continue to receive full government support until they complete their studies and return to Nigeria.
Credit: Punchng
