Foreign scholars under the Federal Government’s Bilateral Educational Agreement (BEA) Scholarship have lamented the sudden deduction in allowances by the Federal Scholarship Board.
News About Nigeria reports that this follows the decision of the Federal government to slash the allowances for foreign scholars who are currently stranded in Russia, Morocco, and Algeria, among others.
According to the FG, the decision to slash their allowance is due to the current economic crisis the country is facing.
The FG’s decision 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 which partly reads, “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.”
In response to this move, the scholars and their parents lamented the impact of the decision on them while speaking to newsmen in Abuja on Wednesday.
The scholars revealed that the government had failed to release their allowances for over 13 months, leaving them to source for their means of survival in foreign countries.
One of the affected scholars, Ronald Donald, said “Firstly, students have stayed 13 months without stipends, just promises upon promises. Now, the only thing the FSB could come up with is to reduce the stipends. Let me give you an idea of how living in Russia and Morocco looks like. In Russia, a student needs a minimum of $300 to survive. The bus fares are expensive, and the hostel prices are up. Bread used to be sold for 70 rubbles is now 120 rubbles. In Morocco, the students don’t have hostels provided for them. As such, they rent apartments (at a starting price of $200 a month).”
Giving details on how they have been surviving, Donald said, “Normally, the embassy in Russia gives out loans to students in difficulty. They take the money back when FSB pays.”
Also, another student who spoke on condition of anonymity said, “We were under the agreement to be paid $500 per month and we have not been paid since June 2023 which has resulted in students engaging in exploitative illegal labour such as washing plates, and construction. I personally have worked in a soap warehouse and restaurant for 12 and 14 hours at a stretch respectively with reduced pay against the agreement and host country’s visa.
“A few months ago after several agitations and representations by our parents, our parents were encouraged by the FG to take loans to the tune of millions because of the exchange rate and the rising cost of living in our host counties to send to us for our survival with the promise that the situation will be sorted out and our stipends would be paid suddenly yesterday they released a memo slashing our stipends by 56%. How are we to pay back the loans or even survive?”
