Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President, has accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of abandoning Nigerian students studying overseas under the Bilateral Education Agreement (BEA) scholarship scheme. The BEA, established in 1993 and revitalized in 1999, was designed to enable Nigerian students to pursue undergraduate and postgraduate education through agreements with partner countries.
Atiku claims that the Tinubu administration quietly discontinued the BEA scholarship scheme without notice to parents or students, leaving approximately 1,600 Nigerian students stranded abroad without financial support. The students are owed stipends amounting to over $6,000 each, with some facing hunger, rent arrears, and shame.
The situation worsened between September and December 2023, when stipends were unpaid, followed by a 56% reduction in allowances in 2024, from $500 to $220 per month, and eventual cessation of payments in 2025. A Nigerian student in Morocco reportedly died in November 2025 due to the hardship.
Atiku criticizes the government’s justification for discontinuing the scheme, citing fiscal constraints, and describes the decision as “cruel” and “neglectful”. He also condemns remarks attributed to the Education Minister, suggesting that students who are “fed up” could be sponsored to return home, as insensitive
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