93 Zamfara scholars stranded at Cyprus varsity over unpaid fees

Some 93 scholars of the Zamfara state government are stranded at Cyprus International University over unpaid fees.

Five of the students, the state’s commissioner for education Wadatau Madawaki confirms, have been forced to discontinue their studies.

In 2020, Zamfara, under the administration of its former governor Bello Muhammed Matawalle, sponsored 93 indigenes to study different courses at the Cyprus International University in North Nicosia.

The lack of a clear agreement between the university and the state authorities, however, left the students with unmet needs and fee debt.

Madawaki, while addressing the press in Abuja, said the tuition fees, accommodation, and feeding allowances of the students were not paid to the university authorities.

The commissioner said available records at the state’s scholarship board showed that a hired consultant only negotiated with the university to process admission and travel documents for the students which were then delivered to Cyprus International’s campus.

He said the negotiation was to the effect that the scholars would be placed in a “full package” including paid accommodation and meals.

Madawaki said Zamfara state began defaulting on its responsibility of paying tuition, accommodation, and feeding allowances in 2022.

This, he said, continued until May 29, 2023, when the Matawalle-led administration ended.

“The unfortunate lack of legal and binding agreement exposed the students to unwanted and unwarranted bad treatment by the university,” the commissioner said.

“There was no signed document that outlined the responsibilities of each party concerning the students’ stay in the university.

“They were simply left at the mercy of the university authorities by unpatriotic elements who cashed in on the poor arrangement to make fast money. Five out of the ninety-three students left the university, remaining eighty-eight.”

Madawaki said Dauda Lawal, Zamfara state’s incumbent governor, directed the secretary to the state government to meet with the university and determine the debt owed.

The SSG, he said, was presented with a debt of tuition fees despite having stopped the students from attending lectures for almost a year.

He said the current government made part payment for tuition, pending reconciliation of accounts for three to six months of accommodation and other debts.

“The university authorities charged the government feeding money for the students even when they knew that they had not taken meals for almost one year as their feeding was tied to their stay in the accommodation,” the commissioner added.

“They charged the government the fees for the accommodation and feeding of the five students even when they had left the university.

“The present administration refused to accept what the university presented as it was meant to dubiously short-changed the government.”

Nigeria’s government-backed scholarship schemes have repeatedly made media discourse for defaulting and abandoning its recipients.