FG to pay affected BEA students N8bn, gives reasons for halting scheme

The Federal Government has pledged to clear N8 billion in outstanding obligations owed to Nigerian students affected by the now-discontinued Bilateral Education Agreement scholarship scheme.

The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, disclosed this on Tuesday during an interview on Channels Television, stating that the government had already disbursed N4 billion while the remaining N4 billion would be approved within the next two weeks.

“We’ve paid four billion of it. We’re disbursing the four billion now. This additional four billion will be approved. I’ve been in constant communication with the minister of finance. It will be approved in the next two weeks. They will be settled,” Alausa said.

The minister explained that the government decided to discontinue the scholarship scheme after discovering widespread abuse and irregularities that undermined its original purpose.

According to him, one of the first documents presented to him after assuming office involved a request to approve N650 million for 60 students travelling to Morocco, including a student sponsored to study English in the French-speaking country.

Alausa said the BEA scheme was originally established as a diplomatic arrangement to provide specialised overseas training in fields such as engineering, medicine and aeronautics, but had gradually been transformed into a general overseas education sponsorship programme.

He further revealed that some beneficiaries were simultaneously enrolled in Nigerian universities while receiving scholarship funds under the scheme, describing the development as indefensible and one of the reasons the programme was halted.

The scholarship scheme, which involved countries including China, Russia, Algeria, Hungary, Morocco, Egypt and Serbia, was formally scrapped by the Federal Government in April 2025 after payment delays, reduced stipends and financial hardship affected more than 1,200 Nigerian students studying abroad.