FG to Pay N8bn to Stranded Scholarship Beneficiaries

The Federal Government of Nigeria has pledged to settle N8 billion owed to stranded foreign scholarship beneficiaries, as announced by Minister of Education Tunji Alausa during an interview on Tuesday. Of this amount, N4 billion has already been disbursed, with the remaining N4 billion expected to be approved within two weeks.

The government is addressing issues related to the bilateral education agreement scholarship scheme, which has faced allegations of fraud and abuse. Alausa disclosed that N650 million has been requested to send 60 students to Morocco for studies in English and French-speaking courses, including psychology, sociology, zoology, and botany.

The scheme, originally designed to train Nigerian students abroad in specialized fields, has been criticized for allowing beneficiaries to simultaneously enroll in Nigerian universities while collecting funds. The government plans to scrap the program by April 2025, affecting 1,200 students abroad, and has allocated N1.7 billion for the program in the 2026 appropriations bill.