Senate summons Minister of Education over stranded Nigerian students abroad

The Senate, on Tuesday, summoned the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, and the leadership of the Federal Scholarship Board over the delay in the payment of outstanding grants to Nigerian students stranded in other countries.

The Senate also urged the Federal Government to impose appropriate sanctions on officials responsible for the pain and suffering the students are going through.

This is just as the upper legislative chamber said Prof. Tahir would provide a detailed report on the status of all Nigerian students under international scholarship programmes including a breakdown of their unpaid entitlements.

The Senate in plenary on Tuesday also urged its President, Godswill Akpabio, to, as a matter of urgency, “carry out a holistic investigation into the matter and ensure that necessary measures are taken to rectify this situation promptly.”

The resolution of the Senate followed a motion on a matter of urgent importance moved by the lawmaker representing Kwara Central Senatorial District, Salihu Mustapha.

He said, “These scholarships are part of a broader initiative to promote specialised education through partnerships with foreign institutions, facilitated by entities such as the Federal Scholarship Board under the Federal Ministry of Education.

“This initiative supports the government’s commitment to Bilateral Education Agreements and Multilateral Agreements with the Commonwealth and other international partners.

“There are reports of Nigerian students facing hardships in Algeria, China, Morocco, Russia and the United Kingdom due to non-payment of tuition and living stipends, leading to negative media coverage and national embarrassment.

“The recurrence of these issues suggests systemic failures, despite previous interventions by this distinguished chamber to prevent such situations.”

He added, “The Federal Government’s failure to meet its financial commitments under these international agreements for over ten months, will jeopardise the welfare and academic progress of the affected students.

“The failure to fulfil these obligations not only undermines our national reputation but also poses significant diplomatic concerns and risks pushing our students towards unlawful activities to sustain their livelihood abroad.”