The Senate on Tuesday mandated its Committee on Education to summon the Federal Scholarship Board and the Minister of Education to provide a detailed report on the status of all Nigerian students under international scholarship programs, including a breakdown of their unpaid entitlements.
The resolutions are a sequel to a motion sponsored to that effect by Senator Saliu Mustapha (APC Kwara Central).
In the motion, Senator Mustapha called for an urgent investigation and resolution of the challenges related to tuition payments and other welfare problems faced by Nigerian students on Federal Government of Nigeria, Overseas, Commonwealth, and Bilateral Scholarship Programmes, lamenting the plights faced by the beneficiaries.
He explained that there have been reports of Nigerian students facing hardships in Algeria, China, Morocco, Russia, and the United Kingdom due to the non-payment of tuition and living stipends, leading to negative media coverage and national embarrassment.
The senate therefore urged the Federal Government to impose appropriate sanctions on the officials within the Federal Scholarship Board and the Federal Ministry of Education who were accountable for these failings,
He stated further that the Federal Government’s failure to meet its financial commitments under these international agreements for over ten months, would jeopardize the welfare and academic progress of the affected students.
Bashir M
