Students Under Bilateral Agreement Scheme Facing Hardship Abroad – Parents

Parents of Nigerian students studying abroad under the Bilateral Education Agreement (BEA) Scholarship Scheme have raised fresh concerns over what they described as unbearable hardship caused by the federal government’s failure to pay stipends for nearly three years.

Speaking at a press briefing on Monday, the spokesperson for  the BEA Parents’ Forum, Mr. Abang Matthew, said many scholars across Europe, Asia, North Africa and other partner countries were now hungry, homeless and emotionally distressed because the government had not fulfilled its financial obligations.

He said 2025 had been the most challenging year for the scholars, explaining that no stipend had been released to students since the beginning of the year, forcing them to survive an entire academic session without support. He recalled that in 2024, stipends were suddenly reduced from $500 to $220, an amount he said could not cover basic needs, such as food, accommodation, transportation, or medical care. He added that in 2023, students were owed two months of payment, along with four additional months that are yet to be cleared.

When this newspaper contacted the director of press at the Federal Ministry of Finance, Mr Mohammed Manga, to know the reason for the delay, he refused to answer calls and messages on his line.

Some of the parents who spoke to journalists during the protest, said the consequences of the prolonged neglect have been devastating.

They announced the death of a Nigerian scholar, Bashir Malami, who was studying in Morocco, describing it as a preventable tragedy. According to him, Malami could not access urgent medical care because he lacked funds, a situation he blamed on the government’s failure to release the stipends that students depend on.

One of the beneficiaries, Dalhatu Tijani said many other scholars are currently sick, depressed or struggling to cope in countries with strict immigration rules and high living costs.

Back home, the parents said they are selling assets, taking loans and borrowing from neighbours to support children who were supposed to be sponsored by the government.

“So, we are here to plead with the government and appeal to their conscience to look at us as Nigerians with a brilliant mind who are the future of tomorrow and while we are there in foreign lands, dying and crying out of hunger and facing deprivation and as well as embarrassment from the landlord and other foreign partners,” one of the parents, Mbashall Grace stated.

A student, Aliyu Aliyu Alkali, said parents and scholars had written letters, sent emails, visited ministries and reached out to agencies, including NIDCOM, the Federal Scholarship Board, the Ministry of Finance and the National Assembly, but none of the efforts had yielded results.

He appealed directly to President Bola Tinubu, the Ministers of Finance and Education and members of the National Assembly to intervene immediately. He said the students were not asking for luxury but simply for the payments the government promised and budgeted for.

The parents are calling for the payment of all outstanding arrears, restoration of the original $500 monthly stipend, a transparent payment system, accommodation support where necessary and a welfare monitoring system to protect Nigerian scholars abroad.

Matthew urged Nigerians, civil society, and the media to support the call for action, saying the issue was not a political concern but a humanitarian issue affecting the country’s brightest minds. He warned that if the government fails to intervene urgently, more students may drop out or lose their lives.