Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has launched a scathing critique against President Bola Tinubu's government for what he describes as the deliberate abandonment of Nigerian students studying overseas under the Bilateral Education Agreement (BEA).
Scholarship Scheme Suspended, Students Left Stranded
In a detailed post on his X account, Atiku revealed that the crucial scholarship program has been effectively discontinued, leaving approximately 1,600 young Nigerians stranded in foreign countries. He stated that a temporary five-year suspension announced by the authorities quickly turned into a complete abandonment of the scholars.
The former presidential candidate outlined a timeline of neglect. According to him, students received no stipend payments from September to December 2023. The situation worsened in 2024 when their allowances were brutally slashed by 56%, from $500 to a mere $220 per month, before stopping entirely. He emphasized that there were no payments throughout the entire year of 2025.
Empty Pockets, Fading Hope, and a Tragic Death
Atiku painted a grim picture of the students' plight, forced to live in perpetual hunger while grappling with rising rent arrears and shame. He highlighted that their desperate plea is simple: the payment of owed stipends, which now amount to more than $6,000 for each student.
The human cost of this neglect was starkly underlined with a tragic report. One student in Morocco did not survive the ordeal, passing away in November last year, transforming quiet suffering into public grief. This incident has fueled outrage among parents and scholars, who have taken to the streets of Abuja to protest before the Ministries of Education and Finance.
Government's "Cold" Response and a Broken Diplomatic Pact
Atiku lambasted the government's response to the crisis, describing official explanations about managing scarce public funds "responsibly" as a "cold, technocratic" dismissal. He criticized a press statement where a minister reportedly urged "fed up" students to return home, calling it an expulsion by neglect.
He reminded the public that the BEA scheme was not a charity but a diplomatic agreement rooted in shared progress, revitalized in 1999 to build Nigeria's future workforce through partnerships with nations like China, Russia, Morocco, and Hungary. Atiku concluded that this pact now lies broken, with students waiting not just for money, but for a sign that their nation remembers them.
