The Federal Government has discontinued new government-funded awards under its bilateral scholarship programme, redirecting public resources toward strengthening Nigerian tertiary institutions. Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, announced the review of foreign scholarship and bilateral education arrangements, citing the need to cut unnecessary spending.
Proposal for 100,000 Students to Morocco Raises Concerns
Alausa said the decision was influenced by a proposal involving about 100,000 Nigerian students travelling to Morocco to study courses taught in English, including mass communication and journalism. He noted that the programmes were already available in Nigerian universities, polytechnics and colleges of education, making the foreign arrangement difficult to justify.
“Number one, we have all those courses in Nigeria. And yet, number two, they were going to spend the first year learning French before they started the programme,” Alausa said. The minister added that the cost of supporting such a large number of students abroad could not be justified when Nigeria had developed considerable capacity in its tertiary institutions.
Bilateral Education Agreement Called a Waste of Funds
“And number three, in the position of a few million to support this in Nigeria, we support thousands of them,” he said. The government concluded that continuing the arrangement in its previous form would amount to an inefficient use of public resources. “So the Bilateral Education Agreement was not making sense, again, to us in government. It was a way to waste government funds,” Alausa stated.
He added, “And this President will not waste any public funds.” The policy does not amount to a blanket ban on Nigerians receiving scholarships from foreign governments. Countries willing to sponsor Nigerian students can continue to offer such opportunities without necessarily requiring financial support from the Nigerian government.
Shifting Circumstances and Domestic Capacity Building
Alausa explained that the circumstances that justified sending large numbers of Nigerian students abroad decades ago had changed considerably. “When those programmes were set up 20 years ago, they were meant to get students to go to the government colleges where we did not have capacity. But in the last 20 years, we’ve built a number of capacities in the tertiary institutions, universities, polytechnics and colleges,” he added.
The minister said the government’s approach was not simply about withdrawing foreign scholarships but ensuring that public resources were invested where they could have the greatest impact. He cited cases where scholarship beneficiaries were expected to study abroad despite already being enrolled in Nigerian universities, saying such situations further demonstrated the need to review the system. “So we have to start with Nigerians,” the minister said.
Broader Education Reforms and Student Support
The scholarship review forms part of broader education reforms under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, including efforts to strengthen domestic tertiary institutions, expand technical and vocational education, improve digital education, and promote research and innovation. The Federal Government is also strengthening domestic student-support mechanisms, including scholarships, bursaries and the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, which provides financial assistance to students in tertiary institutions.
Alausa recently inaugurated a committee to recognise outstanding academic research and innovation, particularly research with potential for commercialisation and industrial application. “We want undergraduate researchers to see a clear pathway from academic research to industrial application, enterprise, innovation, and national development,” he said. The minister said Nigeria could no longer measure the success of its education system simply by the number of certificates awarded. “The most successful nations of the 21st century will not necessarily be those endowed with greater natural resources. They will be those that can systematically transform knowledge into solutions, research and intellectual capital into economic and industrial value,” Alausa said.
