Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has alleged that the Federal Government has effectively deserted Nigerian students studying abroad under the Bilateral Education Agreement (BEA), leaving hundreds in severe hardship.
In a statement released on Sunday, Atiku claimed that the scholarship programme was quietly discontinued during the administration of President Bola Tinubu, without prior notice to parents, guardians, or the affected students. He said the decision failed to take into account those who were already far advanced in their academic programmes overseas.
According to Atiku, the abrupt halt of the scheme has left about 1,600 Nigerian students stranded in foreign countries, struggling to survive without the financial support promised to them by the government.
He described the BEA as a vital “diplomatic bridge” that has now been allowed to collapse. The programme, he explained, was originally established in 1993 and later revived in 1999 to give Nigerian students access to undergraduate and postgraduate education through partnerships with friendly nations.
Atiku noted that what was initially presented as a temporary five-year suspension gradually turned into a complete abandonment of the scheme. As a result, he said, students have been left without their stipends, with unpaid allowances accumulating to several thousand dollars per individual.
“The students’ demands are simple and urgent: the payment of outstanding stipends, now exceeding $6,000 per student,” he said. “Instead, they were met with a detached, bureaucratic response that public funds are limited and must be managed prudently, even if it means diverting resources meant to sustain Nigerian students abroad.”
He further revealed that the situation deteriorated significantly between September and December 2023, when stipends were not paid at all. In 2024, monthly allowances were reportedly reduced by 56 per cent—from $500 to $220—before being suspended entirely.
Atiku lamented that the timing and manner of the cuts compounded the suffering of the students, many of whom now face hunger, unpaid rent, and deep personal humiliation on a daily basis.
He also disclosed a tragic development in Morocco, where one Nigerian student reportedly died in November last year, an incident he said transformed the silent struggles of BEA beneficiaries into a moment of national sorrow.
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