By Emmanuel Nduka
As economic hardship bites harder in Africa’s most populous nation, the Nigerian Government has reduced the allowances of foreign scholars who are studying under the Bilateral Educational Agreement (BEA) Scholarship by 12.7 percent.
Heritage Times HT reports that the scholars are currently stranded in Russia, Morocco, and Algeria, among other countries.
The reduction of the allowances was announced in a memo issued by the Nigerian Government.
The memo was signed by the Director of the Federal Scholarship Board, Ndajiwo H.A, on behalf of the Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman.
In the memo, the Nigerian Government explained that the balance owed to the students would be paid whenever money is available.
The government attributed the development to the current economic crunch in the country.
Recently, Nigerian students studying in Russia, Morocco, Algeria, China, Hungary, and other countries, on Federal Government scholarship, had lamented their unpaid stipends for eight months running.
The BEA scholarship is an education exchange program between Nigeria and the partnering countries. The Federal Scholarship Board supervises the scholarship under the Federal Ministry of Education.
“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,” the memo said.
It added that the monthly allowances were slashed from $500 to $220; the graduation allowance from $2,500 to $2,000; and the Post-Graduate research allowance from $1,000 to $500.
The total amount initially payable to each student was $5,650, but it will now be $4,370 per scholar.
“The scholars’ association is hereby notified that due to the prevailing economic situation, the payment mandate for the BEA scholars’ allowances will be as per the new adjustment,” the memo read.
“The balances for the years 2023 and 2024 owed to scholars will be paid as soon as the funds are made available,” the government stated.
