The Federal Government has announced a 12.7% reduction in allowances for Nigerian students on scholarship in Russia, Morocco, Algeria, and other countries due to economic crises.
The Federal Scholarship Board, in a memo, stated that the monthly allowance has been slashed from $500 to $220, graduation allowance from $2500 to $2000, and PG research allowance from $1,000 to $500.
The President of the Union of Nigerian Students under the Federal Government-controlled Bilateral Educational Agreement Scholarship, Ayuba Anas, had earlier lamented the non-payment of stipends to scholars for close to eight months.
The Federal Ministry of Education attributed the delay in payment to economic crises, promising to pay the balances for 2023 and 2024 as soon as funds are available.
The Bilateral Educational Agreement Scholarship is a Federal Government programme for education exchange between Nigeria and partnering countries, supervised by the Federal Scholarship Board.
The total payment per student has been reduced from $5,650 to $4,370.
Scholars have endured financial strain due to the delay in receiving their stipends, with some students in China not receiving any stipends since their arrival in April and May 2023.
