Nigerian Scholars Languish in Russia, Others, Lament Unpaid Allowance 

Kuni Tyessi in Abuja

Some parents of Nigerian scholars in overseas countries have sought the intervention of the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, on the non-payment of their children’s allowance before leaving office this weekend.

THISDAY gathered that some of the affected Nigerian students, especially the beneficiaries of the Bilateral Education Agreement (BEA) studying in countries like Algeria, China, Cuba, Egypt, Hungary, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, Romania, Russia, Serbia, South Korea, Tunisia, Turkey, and Ukraine are owed up to five months’ allowance this year.

The award entitles each scholar to supplementation allowances of $6,000 per annum to augment feeding, local transport, maintenance, equipment/books; warm clothing allowances of $250 per annum, and Health Insurance of $200 per annum. 

The commitment of the donor countries is limited to tuition fees and accommodation. Under the arrangement, the Nigerian scholars are expected to be paid every month, but the reality, over the years, is that supplementation and other allowances of BEA scholars are paid in arrears.

Sources said some of the students, especially those in Russia have resorted to begging as the ongoing hostilities between Russia and Ukraine and the attendant sanction have significantly raised standards of living in the country.

Our correspondent learnt that some of the parents of the students last week decided to plead with the minister through a harvest of SMS, begging him to make the payment of the outstanding allowance a parting gift as he leaves office this week.

One of the parents who spoke on the condition of anonymity said the parents are gripped with the fears that the incoming administration may not consider the payment of the outstanding allowance as a priority until it finally settles down.

“Already, our children in Russia are complaining. The cost of living has gone up seriously and not all the parents have enough to send to these children.

“We are appealing to the outgoing administration to settle these children before they begin to constitute themselves into a nuisance in desperation for survival,” the parent said.

Nigeria has four categories of scholarship awards: the Bilateral Education Agreement, the Commonwealth, the Nigerian awards, and the Sustainable Development Goals awards.