BEA scholars demand 2025 full stipends

Nigerian students studying abroad under the Federal Government’s Bilateral Education Agreement (BEA) scholarship scheme face mounting anxiety as outstanding stipends threaten to become unresolvable with the closure of the 2024 and 2025 budget cycles on September 30. While acknowledging partial receipt of 2025 stipends, scholars report that the payments provide only temporary relief and fall far short of addressing the prolonged payment crisis.

The Union of Nigerian Bilateral Education Agreement Scholars stated that only approximately 23% of the total 2025 stipends have been disbursed, despite repeated assurances of payment within two weeks. The union noted that the amount budgeted for 2025 represented only 46% of the total required, and half of that budgeted sum has been paid. This situation is compounded by significant arrears from 2023, including four months of unpaid stipends and a shortfall exceeding $1,000, alongside only 46% of 2024 stipends being paid.

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While the amount budgeted for the year 2025 was only 46 per cent of the total amount required for the year, only half of that amount was paid despite repeated assurances from the minister that the remaining amount would be paid within the next two weeks.

Scholars are urgently appealing to President Bola Tinubu, Education Minister Tunji Alausa, the Federal Scholarship Board, and other stakeholders to intervene. They fear that without immediate action, the closure of budget cycles will further complicate the settlement of these debts. The delayed payments could significantly impact students' ability to cover living and academic expenses in their host countries, jeopardizing their studies and the objectives of the international education cooperation program.

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Our concern remains that after 30th September 2026, the budget cycles for both 2024 and 2025 may be closed. In the same vein, we wish to appeal to the government, through the Honourable Minister of Education, to ensure the immediate release of the remaining 2025 payment, as well as all other outstanding backlogs.