Respite has come for Nigerian
students, who are stranded abroad as President of the Senate, Dr. Abubakar
Bukola Saraki has directed Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to
submit outstanding scholarships to the senate.
Saraki also called for review of
scholarship policy in the country.
The Senate President made the
call on Wednesday when he met with representatives of Ministries, Departments
and Agencies (MDAs) responsible for the welfare of Nigerian Students on scholarships
abroad.
The Senate in plenary had
mandated the President of the Senate to intervene and know why Nigerian
students on scholarships in foreign countries were yet to be paid their
scholarship funds.
Saraki at the meeting which was
attended by the Senate Leader, Deputy Senate Leader, Chairman
Senate Committees
on Tertiary Education and TETFUND and other Senators directed the Federal
Scholarship Board (FSB) to urgently present a comprehensive report of all
Nigerian students on scholarship abroad and their outstanding entitlements to
the relevant committees of the Senate to enable the Senate make Appropriations
for their settlement.
While saying that the Senate
committees after due consideration of of the reports would make recommendations
to the Senate on how to clear the backlogs through appropriation, he called for
a comprehensive review of scholarship policies in the country so as to save the
nation from future embarrassment.
According to Saraki, the meeting
was called to enable the leadership of the Senate and heads of relevant
agencies put heads together on a matter of pressing concern, which is the
welfare of Nigerian students on scholarships who are stranded abroad due to the
inability to fulfill the country’s responsibilities to these students, and meet
their needs.
“As some of you may know, I was
in Russia last month to participate at the 137th Assembly of the
Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), and I heard first-hand the plight of our
students for whom the expected scholarship funding has dried up,” Saraki said.
“The overwhelming feeling on the part of these students is one of abandonment
by their motherland.
He said that the outstanding
students allowances needed to be settled urgently to save them from untold
hardship.
“This feeling of abandonment is
one that we must move quickly to dissipate, by working urgently to alleviate
the difficulties faced by these students,” Saraki stated.
He added that, “We must look for
ways to reestablish the pipelines and remove the bottlenecks, so that our
students who went abroad with the promise and assurance of scholarship funding,
will get their stipends as and when due.”
He lamented that several
brilliant Nigerian students on federal scholarships are languishing abroad due
to the inability of the Federal Government to pay its counterpart funding of
the scholarships awarded under bilateral agreements with with foreign
governments
“Under the Bilateral Education
Agreement (BEA) entered into by Nigeria and several foreign governments, some of
the host countries have responsibility for part of the upkeep of Nigerian
students – while Nigeria must necessarily fulfill her own part.
“There is a need for the MDAs to
look at our responsibility to our students in the different countries, and
devise ways of making good on our part of such agreements.”
“We must recognise that these
students scattered that are currently in dire conditions all over the world,
represent a sizable component of the future of Nigeria – her dreams of progress
and development.
“This is another kind of brain
drain, The worst part is, this is a brain drain that benefits no one, not even
foreign countries. We are not even losing the best of these students to foreign
lands – we are in danger of losing them, period. If we don’t rectify this
situation – let me put it bluntly – we would be sacrificing their futures; and
that, is unthinkable,” Saraki said.
The Director in charge of
Scholarship at the Federal Scholarship Board (FSB), Fatima Ahmad, had earlier
told the Senators than there is an outstanding of N2.4 Billion in scholarships
yet to be settled by the Board due to inadequate or lack of budgetary
provisions.
She stated that for the year 2015
and 2016 that there was an outstanding scholarship allowance to the tune of
N799.8 million, out of which Ñ444.2 million has been paid leaving balance of
Ñ355.6million.
In his reaction, the President of
the Senate directed the FSB to prepare a comprehensive report on the
outstanding allowances and tuition and submit to the education committees to
enable the Senate make provision for its settlement in the budget.
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