After five years of uncertainty and emotional trauma, 84 students of Kano State origin stranded in Northern Cyprus have finally been rescued following an intervention by Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf.
In a statement released by the Director General, Media and Publicity to the Governor, Sunusi Bature Dawakin Tofa, the State Government confirmed the payment of ₦2.24 billion to Near East University in Cyprus. The payment cleared all outstanding tuition and accommodation fees, enabling the affected students to collect their long-withheld certificates.
The students, beneficiaries of a foreign scholarship programme initiated by former Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, had been left stranded after the immediate-past administration under Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje halted the funding.
“The move not only disrupted the students’ education but also subjected them to severe financial and emotional trauma, with some facing legal threats from their host institution at Near East University in Cyprus.
“For years, the students endured untold suffering: locked out of classrooms, evicted from accommodations, and ridiculed abroad as they battled to survive in a foreign land without support.
“A total of two billion, two hundred and forty million naira has been paid to secure the certificates of the students who have waited for over five years,” the statement revealed.
Among the rescued students are 28 medical graduates, along with others in nursing, dentistry, engineering, computer science, pharmacy, and biomedical sciences. While many had completed their studies years ago, they were unable to graduate formally due to unpaid fees.
Governor Yusuf also ordered the automatic employment of all returning graduates into the Kano State civil service, describing them as “an asset” to the state’s development agenda.
