Senate asks FG to probe unpaid stipends of stranded international students

Godswill Akpabio, the senate president, has directed a probe into the financial struggles of Nigerian students abroad. 

TheCable recently spotlighted the experiences of foreign students who are grappling to keep up with their tuition.

The report revealed that some of the students have not received their stipends for up to 11 months.

The inability to pay the tuition has also forced some of them to juggle jobs or take loans from fellow African students.

They also seek help from family members whose monetary aids have become insignificant due to foreign exchange fluctuations and the depreciating value of the naira.

Sometimes, these students also sell personal belongings to make ends meet.

During plenary on Tuesday, the senate urged the federal government to punish officials who may be responsible for the challenges faced by the students.

Salihu Mustapha, the lawmaker representing Kwara central senatorial district, raised a motion on a matter of urgent importance.

“These scholarships are part of a broader initiative to promote specialised education through partnerships with foreign institutions, facilitated by entities such as the Federal Scholarship Board (FSB), under the federal ministry of education,” he said.

“There are reports of Nigerian students facing hardships in Algeria, China, Morocco, Russia, and the United Kingdom due to non-payment of tuition and living stipends, leading to negative media coverage and national embarrassment.

“The recurrence of these issues suggests systemic failures, despite previous interventions by this distinguished chamber to prevent such situations.

“The federal government’s failure to meet its financial commitments under these international agreements for over 10 months will jeopardise the welfare and academic progress of the affected students.

“The failure to fulfil these obligations not only undermines our national reputation but also poses significant diplomatic concerns and risks, pushing our students towards unlawful activities to sustain their livelihood abroad.”

In its resolution, the senate summoned Tahir Mamman, the minister of education, and the FSB over the delay in the payment of outstanding grants to the students.

The lawmakers asked Mamman to submit a detailed report on the status of all Nigerian students under international scholarship programmes, including an analysis of their unpaid entitlements.

The upper chamber asked Akpabio to carry out a holistic investigation into the matter and ensure that necessary measures were taken to rectify the situation.

Akpabio also directed relevant committees to probe the matter.

BACKGROUND

Nigeria has a bilateral education agreement (BEA) with some countries in Africa, Europe, North America and Asia.

Some of the countries are Russia, China, Hungary, Morocco, Venezuela, and Algeria among others.

These countries hand annual scholarship slots to Nigeria’s federal scholarship board, which then proceeds to nominate indigenous applicants by merit. The arrangement is meant to go both ways.

The host country undertakes to cover tuition and provide hostel accommodation for the scholars, alongside some monthly or bi-monthly allowance, depending on what is obtainable.

All Nigeria has to do is pay the awardees yearly allowance of $200 for health insurance, $500 annually for medicals, and $500 in monthly stipend for nutrition, books, equipment, and transport.

Slots for student lodges in destination varsities are always limited. This means that most Nigerians end up paying $200 to $300 in monthly rent, while depleting their $500 stipend which hardly arrives on time.

FSB is yet to resolve this with the BEA countries or provide alternative accommodation.

The board continues to default, sometimes going for months without disbursing these funds.

As of the time of writing, the latest spell has subsisted for 12 months.

This has forced the students, some of whom are either orphaned or have public servants living on N30,000 ($20.6 at N1,450/USD) monthly minimum wage, to work long hours in odd underpaid jobs, squat with foreign nationals, beg for alms, face eviction due to unpaid rent, ration food, and be ridiculed abroad.

In 2023, Nigeria had 1,532 active BEA beneficiaries for which N6.8 billion was budgeted for in 2024 at N800/USD 1 FX benchmark.

Government sources cite paucity of funds as the reason for the unpaid stipends. Embassies in destination countries are out of options.

The ministers of education in Nigeria say they are taking the matter up with the finance ministry.

The house of representatives is also looking to constitute a probe panel to investigate the issue.