Nigerian Students on Government Scholarships Abroad Protests 11 Month Unpaid Allowances, Seeks Tinubu Intervention

Nigerian students studying overseas on Federal Government sponsorship have appealed to President Bola Tinubu to urgently intervene over the non-payment of their allowances, saying they have been stranded, humiliated, and exposed to life-threatening conditions in their host countries.

The students, beneficiaries of the Bilateral Education Agreement (BEA) programme, alongside their parents, staged a protest on Monday at the Federal Ministry of Finance in Abuja. They demanded the immediate release of outstanding stipends owed for about 11 months.

The protesters arrived at the ministry around 10am carrying placards and chanting solidarity songs as they decried the hardship caused by the allowance arrears. Many said they have been unable to feed properly, pay rent, or meet basic academic needs.

The BEA scheme fully funds Nigerian students to study in countries such as Russia, China, Hungary and Morocco. However, in 2024, the monthly allowance was reduced from $500 to $220, a cut the students said has pushed many of them into extreme hardship. Despite the reduction, the arrears for September to December 2023 remain unpaid, and no stipend has been released at all for 2025.

Speaking to journalists, one of the students, Dalhatu Tijani, said the slash represents a 56% reduction, and accused authorities of neglecting their welfare despite repeated appeals.

“In 2025, no student has received a penny,” he said. “Students are suffering. We just lost a student who suffered complications from tuberculosis last week. His name is Bashir Malemi. He was supposed to graduate this year. His parents are still mourning.”

Dressed in black to honour their late colleague, Tijani said the group had contacted multiple government offices, including the Minister of Education, the Accountant-General, and the Federal Scholarship Board, but received no meaningful response.

He added that the National Assembly had twice moved motions to investigate the crisis, yet no action followed.

“We are pleading with the government to look at us as Nigerians with brilliant minds who are supposed to be the future of this country,” he said. “We are suffering abroad, hungry, embarrassed by landlords, and facing deprivation. We need the President to step in.”

The students are calling on President Tinubu to direct the Ministries of Finance and Education, as well as other stakeholders, to immediately release all outstanding payments and restore the stipend to the original $500, which they say is the minimum required for survival in their host countries.