The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman has pledged the readiness of the federal government to offset the 10-month outstanding allowances to Nigerian scholars abroad, amidst the mounting pressure from parents and complaints that the default in payment is taking a toll on the studies of the Nigerian scholars in foreign lands.
The students are owed 10 months allowance and there are reports that the situation is having serious consequences on their programmes.
Responding to a THISDAY enquiry on the plight of the students and the complaints by their parents, the Minister disclosed that the government is putting the finishing touches to the payment arrangement, which he said was delayed by the current instability in the foreign exchange rates in Nigeria.
When confronted that some parents of scholars, especially those in Russia are becoming restless as the rising cost of living in the country is pushing Nigerian scholars to do menial jobs at the detriments of their studies, the Minister said, “The government is ramping up efforts to pay their allowances.”
The Minister said the rise in the forex rate has significantly affected the federal government’s budget for scholarships and that this has necessitated a return to the drawing board to capture the current reality.
He said, “Back home too, the rise in forex exchange has impacted our approved budget of 2023 for the scholarships which means the naira available will buy less dollars and in consequence the available forex to pay to students. But overall, we are doing everything possible to ease the situation for the students.
For the Nigerian scholars in Russia, the situation is worse given the level of hardship facing the people as a result of the war between Russia and Ukraine. There were reports that some of the students had to settle for menial jobs and engage in distraction which is already causing academic setbacks to them.
A spokesperson for the parents’ group, Mr. Kola Benson said that since last year June, when the students received their last payment, they have not been paid since then and that most of the parents have to beg relatives for them to send small financial support to their wards.
“The poor economic situation in Nigeria is making it difficult for many of the parents to do anything meaningful and the children are frustrated.
“We are begging President Bola Tinubu to bail us out so that the children would not be pushed by hunger to do what they are not supposed to do since their families are not in Russia,” the spokesperson said.
As of today, Nigerian students studying in Russia, Morocco, Algeria, China, Hungary, and other countries, on the Federal Government’s scholarship are owed a 9-month allowance and this culture of delayed payment seems to have come to stay.
The students are studying under the Federal Government’s Bilateral Educational Agreement Scholarship with partnering countries, a scheme supervised by the Federal Scholarship Board under the Ministry of Education.
