Federal government slashes allowances it pays to Nigerian students on scholarships abroad

NIGERIA'S Federal Ministry of Education has slashed the allowances paid to foreign scholars studying abroad by 12.7% in response to the growing economic crisis that has led to budgetary constraints.

Over recent years, Nigeria has been suffering from the effects of a shrinking economy and reduced government spending, which has affected all ministries. Feeling the pinch, the education ministry has announced that it will slash the allowances of its foreign scholars who are currently studying in Russia, Morocco and Algeria, by 12.7%, to help save costs.

At the moment, there are hundreds of Nigerian students studying under scholarships in Russia, Morocco, Algeria, China, Hungary and other countries. Of late, life has been difficult for these students as for about the last eight months, the federal government has struggled to pay their allowances and now things are about to get infinitely worse as these allowances are going to be cut.

These students are studying under the federal government’s Bilateral Educational Agreement (BEA) scholarship programme. Supervised by the Federal Scholarship Board, the BEA scheme was launched for the purpose of entering into education exchange programmes between Nigeria and several partnering countries.

Earlier this week, a memo signed by the director of the Federal Scholarship Board on behalf of the education minister Professor Tahir Mamman, was sent to the scholars' association. It read: “After due consultations, the Federal Scholarship Board has come up with adjustments in line with budgetary provisions in the payment of BEA scholar’s supplementation allowances for the 2024 academic year.”

According to the memo, the monthly allowances were slashed to $220 from $500, the graduation allowance to $2,000 from $2,500 and the post graduate research allowance was slashed to $500  from $1,000. Prior to now, the total payments initially paid to each student per year was $5,650 but this 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 balances for the years 2023 and 2024 owed to scholars will be paid as soon as the funds are made available,” the memo added.

Recently, the president of the Union of Nigerian Students Ayuba 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."