Parents of Scholars, under the Bilateral Education Agreement (BEA) Scholarship Scheme, have expressed deep sorrow over the Federal Government’s refusal to pay statutory stipends to the students, which has pushed some of them into prostitution, drugs and other social vices abroad.
A cross section of the parents who spoke to TheFact Daily on Monday during a protest staged at the Ministry of Finance Headquarters, Abuja, said over the past three years, the BEA Scholars studying across Europe, Asia, Northern Africa, Russia, China and other partner nations have endured unprecedented hardship due to the federal government’s persistent failure to fulfill its obligations to them.
A parent, Mrs Olori-Aje, who was seen sobbing and wailing, told this paper that most of the female Scholars have gone into prostitution and the males into drug peddling and other social vices just to survive abroad.
She narrated that her daughter is always calling home for an amount as low as N5,000 because of the dehumanising condition the federal government has subjected them to.
Another parent, Mbashall Grace, who was also in tears, said her child has passed through a lot due to the lack of payment by the Federal Government. Therefore, pleaded with the government to come to their aid.
Addressing journalists during the protest, one of the Scholars, Dalhatu Tijani said the Scholars left home with dreams, hope, and with promise that their government would support their education, but are now frustrated.
Tijani narrated that in 2025, not a single dollar was paid to the scholars throughout the year.
He disclosed that the Students have survived an entire academic year without stipends, living in foreign countries with rising inflation and strict immigration policies. Adding that many are hungry, homeless, and mentally drained.
Tijani also disclosed that in 2024, stipends were unilaterally reduced from $500 to $220, barely enough to cover feeding, let alone accommodation, transportation, books, medical care, or utilities.
Affirming that in 2023 alone, the students suffered a shortage of approximately two months of payments, in addition to four months arrears that remained unsettled.
Saying that the consequences of these failures are no longer theoretical, as they are burying some of the students.
“Let the nation hear this clearly: We have lost one of our own. The death of Bashir Malami, a Nigerian BEA scholar in Morocco, is a stain on our national conscience.
“His passing was preventable. He died because he could not access the medical care he urgently needed because the government that sent him abroad failed to send the stipend that would have kept him alive.
“Many others are currently sick, depressed, hungry, and hopeless. Their mental health is deteriorating. Their physical health is collapsing. And their dreams, the dreams they left Nigeria with are fading away.
“Parents back home are equally drowning in debt, borrowing from neighbours, selling assets, and taking loans to support children who were supposed to be sponsored by the Nigerian government.
“This is not a scholarship anymore. It has become a punishment for being brilliant.
“It has become a sentence for being patriotic enough to accept a government sponsored award,” he lamented.
Tijani revealed that letters had been written and appeals made to the Ministry of Education Federal Scholarship Board (FSB), Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Ministry of Finance, the National Assembly, but all yielded no positive results.
Therefore, demanded an immediate payment of all outstanding backlogs, 16 months in arrears, and eight (8) months of accumulated shortfalls from 2023 and 2024.
He also demanded the restoration of the original monthly stipend of $500 per month, which was the legally recognised amount as captured in the award letter and in the agreement form signed by all BEA Scholars at the point of departure.
Other demands include establishment of a reliable and transparent payment framework, to ensure that the monthly stipends are automated, predictable, and protected from administrative delays, Provision of accommodation allowances for BEA countries where housing is not provided by host governments, and special accommodation allowances should be provided, and Comprehensive welfare monitoring system, so no Nigerian Scholar abroad fall sick or die due to lack of funds ever again.
He appealed to President Bola Tinubu to intervene in the matter to ensure prompt response to the above demands.
“If the government fails to act now, more lives may be lost, More scholars may drop out, More dreams may die, And Nigeria will lose some of its brightest minds,” he concluded.
