When Moyosore Ojuri lost her father at age 11, her world practically came crashing. Her father had promised to give her the best of education. Although he was not a millionaire, the man had struggled to enrol her in one of the top private secondary schools in Lagos.
But with the death, her mother, a retired civil servant, could not pay her tuition when due. Luckily, the authorities of her school recognised the young lady’s academic exploits and gave her family the concession to pay her tuition in installments. Even with that, her mother had difficulty doing so as she occasionally ran into debts.
However, on completion of her secondary education in 2010, Ojuri passed the West African Senior School Certificate Examination, obtaining six distinctions and two credits. But accessing university education did not come that easy, due to lack of funds. Fortunately for her, in 2012 she came across the Bilateral Education Agreement Scholarship Awards advertised by the Federal Scholarship Board through the Federal Ministry of Education and grabbed the opportunity.
Ojuri passed the series of tests and interviews and was given admission to study Metallurgical Engineering at the Volgograd State Technical University, Russia. On touching down at the Domodedovo International Airport, Moscow, Russia on September 22, 2012, Ojuri concluded that her pains and frustration had come to an end.
Nigeria has BEA for undergraduate and post-graduate studies with Russia, Cuba, Morocco, Algeria, Romania, Ukraine, Turkey, Egypt, Japan, Serbia, Macedonia, China, and Mexico. Under the arrangement, the Federal Government pays for the upkeep of the students, while the countries where the scholarship award is tenable provides the tuition.
Akindamola, a first class Mechanical Engineering graduate, says, “It is unfortunate that girls with exceptional academic brilliance are now forced to indulge in all manner of indecent lifestyles. These girls now go to clubs and dance semi nude for a fee that could be as low as $20. For the boys, employers use us for odd jobs, such as clearing of snow and as labourers on construction sites. Even as we do that, there is this perpetual fear that the police will arrest us.”
But appraising the situation, a Professor of Microbiology, University of Ilorin, Poju Akinyanju, chides the Federal Government for sending the students overseas on scholarship without making proper funding arrangement for them. The experience, he says, is not only traumatising to the scholars but also a dent on Nigeria’s image.
He states, “It is unfortunate that they do not care about these youngsters. Are you telling me that the authorities cannot pay for the students’ stipends? There must have been some budgetary provisions for them. How can these traumatised students be loyal and patriotic to their fatherland when they eventually return home?”
Also, a lecturer at the University of Lagos, Prof. Alani Ramoni, describes the condition of the students as unfortunate. According to him, even under the military regime he enjoyed his scholarship offer without any hindrance.
When contacted, the Director, Press and Public Relations, Federal Ministry of Education, Mr. Olu Lipede, confirmed that there were challenges remitting the money to the students. He nonetheless blamed their travails on the “budgeting process” and problems associated with “banking transfers.”
Prodded to be specific on when the students will be paid, Lipede states, “That I cannot say because I am not the Central Bank of Nigeria. There are processes between the Federal Ministry of Education and the CBN as well as between the CBN and Nigeria’s foreign missions.”
Lipede adds, “We do care about their welfare. Last year (2013), we went to visit them in Russia and we inspected where they sleep and we made known to the Russian Government those things we were not satisfied with. These students have been told that their money will be remitted to them. If there is any delay it should not be blamed on the ministry.”
But a source familiar with the administration of the scholarship scheme says the matter is beyond the Federal Ministry of Education. According to the source, the students have yet to get their allowance because there has not been a release for their payments.
The source adds, “It is beyond us in the Ministry of Education. Their money is in capital allocation. How do we go ahead and circumvent the rules? Their stipends should be extricated from the regular budget. Unless this is done, they would continue to experience this problem every year.”
This is quite a sad situation, because these young lads are only being subjected to untold hardships which have geared them into illegal means of livelihood for survival.
Let the government act fast to remit their fees and allowances to ameliorate their suffering so as to enable them complete their academic pursuit.
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