Nigerian Scholars Languish in Russia, Others, Lament Unpaid Allowance

Nigerian students studying in foreign countries on different scholarship schemes are languishing due to the failure of the federal government to remit their allowance for five months, findings by THISDAY have revealed.

Findings further revealed that the affected students “are beneficiaries of the Bilateral Education Agreement (BEA) studying in different countries across the world.”

Some parents of the affected students anonymously revealed the plight of their wards at a session with journalists at the weekend, begging the federal government to come to their rescue.

One of the parents specifically challenged the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu to address issues around the non-payment of their children’s allowance before leaving office.

The parent revealed that the affected students “are in Algeria, China, Cuba, Egypt, Hungary, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, Romania, Russia, Serbia, South Korea, Tunisia, Turkey, and Ukraine languishing due to the federal government’s failure to pay the five months’ allowance.”

He revealed that the affected students “are studying overseas under the Bilateral Education Agreement (BEA) that requires the federal government to pay them monthly allowances.

“The award entitles each scholar to supplementation allowances of $6,000 per annum to augment feeding, local transport, maintenance, equipment/books; warm clothing allowances of $250 per annum, and Health Insurance of $200 per annum,” the parent explained.

Another parent explained that the commitment of the donor countries “is limited to tuition fees and accommodation. Under the arrangement, the Nigerian scholars are expected to be paid every month, but the reality, over the years, is that supplementation and other allowances of BEA scholars are paid in arrears.”

The parent said some of the students, especially those in Russia had resorted to begging as the ongoing hostilities between Russia and Ukraine and the attendant sanction have significantly raised standards of living in the country.

He noted that some of the parents of the students last week decided to plead with the minister through a harvest of SMS, begging him to make the payment of the outstanding allowance a parting gift as he leaves office this week.