Abuja: Protest in Nigeria's Capital as Demonstrators Fume at FG, Video Emerges
- Parents and beneficiaries of the Bilateral Education Agreement (BEA) scholarship programme protested in Abuja on Monday, November 17
- The protesters demanded the immediate payment of outstanding stipends reportedly owed to Nigerian students studying abroad
- Parents expressed anguish over the federal government’s alleged persistent failure to fulfil its obligations to the students
Legit.ng journalist, Ridwan Adeola Yusuf, has over 9 years of experience covering education in Nigeria and Africa.
FCT, Abuja - Parents of student beneficiaries of the federal government’s Bilateral Education Agreement (BEA) scholarship programme on Monday, November 17, staged a protest at the federal ministry of finance in Abuja.
The protesters said they were thoroughly displeased with the non-payment of 16 months of arrears of living allowances of their loved ones.
Source: Original
Legit.ng reports that the FG’s BEA is a fully-funded initiative that allows Nigerian students to study abroad in partner countries like Russia, China, Hungary, and Morocco.
The programme covers accommodation, tuition, and medical care, while also providing a living allowance of $500 monthly for undergraduate and postgraduate students.
The allowance was, however, slashed to $220 per student per month in 2024.
Scholars’ parents protest unpaid stipends
The Forum of BEA Scholars said several students had taken informal jobs in violation of their scholarship terms, while others had been relying on charity.
As reported by Channels TV, the protesters occupied the entrance of the ministry with placards.
The Nigerian Tribune also noted the development.
The protesters linked the recent death of a Nigerian student in Morocco to the hardship caused by unpaid allowances, warning that more students were at risk if the government continued to delay payments.
Source: Twitter
The protesters, under the auspices of the BEA Parents’ Forum, were led by Mathew Abang.
Abang explained while speaking to journalists:
“Many government-sponsored students abroad 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."
A video of the protest can be viewed below:
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FG denies forming BEA scholars committee
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that the federal ministry of education dismissed reports alleging that returning scholars under the BEA are being reintegrated into Nigerian universities following the purported termination of the programme.
In a statement, the ministry described the report, which bore the title 'BEA: Education Minister receives committee’s report,' as entirely false and misleading.
According to the ministry, the alleged inauguration of a committee to facilitate the scholars’ reintegration never took place.
Source: Legit.ng
