Atiku Says Tinubu Administration Has Deserted 1600 Nigerian Students Abroad

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Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has criticized the current administration, claiming that Nigerian students studying overseas under the Bilateral Education Agreement (BEA) scholarship programme have been abandoned. According to Atiku, the BEA scheme—once a key channel for enabling Nigerians to pursue higher education abroad—was effectively discontinued under President Bola Tinubu without any official communication to the affected students or their families.

Atiku highlighted that this abrupt policy shift has left roughly 1,600 students stranded in the middle of their academic programs, with no financial support to continue their studies. “What was initially presented as a temporary five-year suspension eventually became total abandonment,” he noted, describing the scheme as “a diplomatic bridge that has now collapsed.”

The BEA programme, originally launched in 1993 and reinforced in 1999, was intended to provide Nigerian students with undergraduate and postgraduate opportunities through partnerships with foreign institutions. Atiku stressed that the government’s inaction has resulted in mounting unpaid allowances, with each student owed over $6,000.

He criticized the administration for offering bureaucratic excuses that prioritize domestic financial needs over the students’ welfare: “Their request is simple and urgent: settle the outstanding stipends… Yet, the government responded with a detached bureaucratic justification—that limited public funds must be ‘managed responsibly.’”

The former Vice President also outlined the worsening conditions over time: from September to December 2023, no stipends were disbursed, and in 2024, monthly allowances were cut by 56%, from $500 to $220, before being completely terminated. The timing, he emphasized, exacerbated students’ hardships, including hunger, unpaid rent, and extreme stress.

Atiku cited a tragic case in Morocco where one student died in November 2025, turning personal hardship into public grief. He urged the government to fulfill its financial obligations immediately and stressed that failure to act undermines both Nigeria’s diplomatic credibility and its responsibility to citizens studying abroad.

Commentary and Analysis

The controversy surrounding the BEA programme underscores a broader governance challenge: ensuring continuity and accountability in long-standing scholarship initiatives. By highlighting the plight of these students, Atiku frames the issue as both a humanitarian concern and a diplomatic lapse. Observers suggest that resolving the unpaid stipends promptly could restore confidence in Nigeria’s international education partnerships, while continued neglect risks eroding trust in federal commitments to citizen welfare overseas.

The situation also illustrates the intersection of fiscal policy and social responsibility, raising questions about whether domestic budget priorities should override obligations to students already engaged in foreign study programmes.