The Federal Government has appealed for calm over agitations by Nigerian students on foreign scholarships lamenting unpaid stipends.
The Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman, stated this on Thursday in Abuja at a press conference heralding the 2024 Commonwealth Day.
Recall that the Union of Nigerian Students, under the Federal Government Bilateral Educational Agreement (BEA) scholarship, had appealed to the Nigerian government to address the pressing issue of unpaid stipends causing severe hardship among students.
Spokesperson of the Coalition of all the Nigerian Bilateral Education Agreement Student Association, Ayuba Yushau, had said for the past six to eight months, scholars enrolled in various institutions abroad have endured financial strain due to the delay in receiving their stipends.
Reacting to the development, Professor Mamman assured that the allowances would be paid soon.
“It is being processed. That is the information I have from the Secretariat. Nothing will be lost. Their allowance is being processed,” Prof. Mamman said.
According to the Minister, the Commonwealth Day, which will be commemorated in Abuja on Monday, March 11, will provide an enabling opportunity to promote democracy, human rights, cultural diversity, cooperation, equality and mutual respect for nation building.
He said in the build-up to the D-Day, schools across the country had participated in youth lectures, quiz competitions, parades of the Commonwealth Flags, poetic renditions, dramatisations of the 2024 observance theme, and cultural display among others.
With 56 member countries spanning across six continents, the theme for this year’s event is ‘One Resilient Common Future: Transforming our Commonwealth”.
