The Federal Government has announced a slash in allowances of foreign scholars who are currently stranded in Russia, Morocco, and Algeria, among others by 12.7% due to economic hardship in Nigeria.
The Federal Government’s decision to slash the scholars’ allowances was contained in a memo signed by the Director of the Federal Scholarship Board, Ndajiwo H.A., on behalf of the Minister of Education, Prof Tahir Mamman.
The students are studying under the Federal Government’s Bilateral Educational Agreement Scholarship which was established for the purpose of education exchange between Nigeria and the partnering countries.
The Federal Scholarship Board is supervising the scholarship under the Federal Ministry of Education.
According to the memo, the monthly allowances were slashed from $500 to $220; the graduation allowance from $2500 to $2000; and the PG research allowance was slashed from $1,000 to $500, among others.
The total for the payments initially paid was $5,650 per student but will now be $4,370
“The Scholars’ Association is hereby notified that due to the prevailing economic situation, the payment mandate for the BEA scholars’ allowances will be as per the new adjustment.
“The ministry said the balances for the years 2023 and 2024 owed to scholars will be paid as soon as the funds are made available,”.
Recently, the President of the Union of Nigerian Students under the Federal Government-controlled Bilateral Educational Agreement Scholarship, Ayuba Anas, said the scholars had not been paid for close to eight months.
Anas said, “For the past six to eight months, scholars enrolled in various institutions abroad have endured financial strain due to the delay in receiving their stipends.
“In addition, from the last payments we received (March-August), there was a shortfall of practically two and a half months’ payment. Moreover, some students in China have not received any stipends since they arrived in April and May 2023.“
