Failure by the Federal Government to pay allowances of 322 Nigerian students on
scholarship in Russia forces them into begging and illegal jobs, TEMITAYO FAMUTIMI reports When Moyosore Ojuri lost her father at age 11, her world practically came crashing. Her father had promised to give her the best of education. Although he was not a millionaire, the man had struggled to enrol her in one of the top private secondary schools in Lagos. But with the death, her mother, a retired civil
servant, could not pay her tuition when due. Luckily, the authorities of her school recognised the young lady’s academic exploits and gave
her family the concession to pay her tuition in installments. Even with that, her mother had difficulty doing so as she occasionally ran into debts.
However, on completion of her secondary education in 2010, Ojuri passed the West African Senior School Certificate Examination, obtaining six distinctions and two credits. But
accessing university education did not come that easy, due to lack of funds. Fortunately for
her, in 2012 she came across the Bilateral Education Agreement Scholarship Awards
advertised by the Federal Scholarship Board through the Federal Ministry of Education and grabbed the opportunity.
Ojuri passed the series of tests and interviews and was given admission to study Metallurgical Engineering at the Volgograd State Technical
University, Russia. On touching down at the Domodedovo International Airport, Moscow,
Russia on September 22, 2012, Ojuri concluded that her pains and frustration had come to an
end. Nigeria has BEA for undergraduate and post-
graduate studies with Russia, Cuba, Morocco, Algeria, Romania, Ukraine, Turkey, Egypt,
Japan, Serbia, Macedonia,China, and Mexico.
Under the arrangement, the Federal Government pays for the upkeep of the students, while the countries where the scholarship award is tenable provides the
tuition.
Two years after, Ojuri has a different story to share. Speaking with our correspondent on the
telephone from Volgograd, she says that the Federal Government has since abandoned the BEA scholars to starve to death. According to her, for eight months running now, the over 322 promising Nigerian students on the BEA initiative in the former Soviet Union have not been paid a dime by the government. Each of the beneficiaries’ monthly stipends for feeding is $500, while their annual allowance for medicals and clothing is $450 each.
But from January till date, none of these
allowances have been paid by the Nigerian
government, despite repeated appeals and
other forms of representations to the Nigerian
Embassy in Moscow and the Federal Ministry
of Education in Abuja.
Following the non-remittance of funds, Ojuri
and her Nigerian colleagues, of late, have no
choice but to borrow money as a survival
strategy from their fellow African students
enjoying similar BEA.
The 20-year-old asks rhetorically, “We are not
private students. We came to Russia on the bill
of the Federal Government. Why haven’t the
authorities paid our stipends and other
allowances for eight months now? For how long
shall we continue to borrow money?”
The youngster, who says she has a huge debt
on her neck at present, notes that their
colleagues from other countries are no longer
comfortable lending them money.
She adds, “On many occasions, I have had
cause to go to class on an empty stomach.
Getting money for transportation from my
hostel to school has become very problematic.
More worrisome is the fact that I will soon be
homeless as my hostel fees will expire at the
end of August. We are grateful to the Federal
Government for the scholarship opportunity, but
there is no sense in leaving us here to starve to
death in a foreign land.”
Findings by our correspondent reveal that the
inability to get work permit by foreign students
in Russia is further compounding their
problems. So, how do they survive the
starvation and hard times in the Eurasian
country?
Another Nigerian, Akinola Akindamola, pursuing
his Master’s degree at the Volgograd State
Technical University, explains that they engage
in all kinds of oddities to survive. According to
him, the pressure is even more on his female
colleagues.
Akindamola, a first class Mechanical
Engineering graduate, says, “It is unfortunate
that girls with exceptional academic brilliance
are now forced to indulge in all manner of
indecent lifestyles. These girls now go to clubs
and dance semi Unclad for a fee that could be
as low as $20. For the boys, employers use us
for odd jobs, such as clearing of snow and as
labourers on construction sites. Even as we do
that, there is this perpetual fear that the police
will arrest us.”
A final year Medicine and Surgery student of the
Russian National Research Medical
University, Moscow, David Ikenna, also admits
that the failure of the Federal Government to
remit their allowances exposes them to risks in
the country.
Ikenna states, “We have been finding a way to
survive by circumventing the laws, but it is at
great risk to our personal safety and academic
pursuits in Russia. Our situation is frustrating.
My brother, we are suffering. How I wish I could
bring you here to see how miserable our
conditions are. The Nigerian government has
failed us miserably.
“Even with the illegal jobs we do, we still find it
hard to make ends meet. It is shameful that we
have got no alternatives but to beg for food
and money from Ghanaians, Namibians,
Ugandans and Sierra Leoneans who are on the
same bilateral educational scholarships like
us.”
Besides welfare, some of the students who are
to return to Nigeria for their mandatory
internship programmes are also stuck in
Russia, due to lack of funds.
Julfa Timkuk, a student of International Law at
the Southern Western University, Rostov,
Russia, wonders if they were indeed on a
scholarship. The 25-year-old, who hails from
the Langtang North Local Government Area of
Plateau State, says he now lives on cheap
white bread.
“My colleagues and I are tired of clearing snow,
working at warehouses or helping to lift heavy
equipment at night. Our suffering is no longer
bearable. Please do us a favour and beg them
to free us from this slavery in a foreign land,” he
appeals.
But appraising the situation, a Professor of
Microbiology, University of Ilorin, Poju
Akinyanju, chides the Federal Government for
sending the students overseas on scholarship
without making proper funding arrangement for
them. The experience, he says, is not only
traumatising to the scholars but also a dent on
Nigeria’s image.
He states, “It is unfortunate that they do not
care about these youngsters. Are you telling
me that the authorities cannot pay for the
students’ stipends? There must have been
some budgetary provisions for them. How can
these traumatised students be loyal and
patriotic to their fatherland when they
eventually return home?”
Also, a lecturer at the University of Lagos, Prof.
Alani Ramoni, describes the condition of the
students as unfortunate. According to him,
even under the military regime he enjoyed his
scholarship offer without any hindrance.
When contacted, the Director, Press and Public
Relations, Federal Ministry of Education, Mr. Olu
Lipede, confirmed that there were challenges
remitting the money to the students. He
nonetheless blamed their travails on the
“budgeting process” and problems associated
with “banking transfers.”
Prodded to be specific on when the students
will be paid, Lipede states, “That I cannot say
because I am not the Central Bank of Nigeria.
There are processes between the Federal
Ministry of Education and the CBN as well as
between the CBN and Nigeria’s foreign
missions.”
Lipede adds, “We do care about their welfare.
Last year (2013), we went to visit them in
Russia and we inspected where they sleep and
we made known to the Russian Government
those things we were not satisfied with. These
students have been told that their money will
be remitted to them. If there is any delay it
should not be blamed on the ministry.”
But a source familiar with the administration of
the scholarship scheme says the matter is
beyond the Federal Ministry of Education.
According to the source, the students have yet
to get their allowance because there has not
been a release for their payments.
The source adds, “It is beyond us in the
Ministry of Education. Their money is in capital
allocation. How do we go ahead and
circumvent the rules? Their stipends should be
extricated from the regular budget. Unless this
is done, they would continue to experience this
problem every year.”
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