Corruption, Waste Led To Suspension Of BEA Scholarship—FG
The Federal Government has suspended the Bilateral Education Agreement (BEA) scholarship scheme, with the Minister of Education declaring that the programme no longer makes sense and had become a channel for wasting public funds.
Speaking during a press briefing on the Tertiary Institutions National Laureate Prize on Wednesday, the Minister said the decision was in line with President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to ensure that no government resources are misused.
He explained that the scholarship, which for years sent Nigerian students abroad, particularly to countries like Morocco for courses in Mass Communication, Journalism and Psychology, was faulty on three grounds.
According to him, Nigeria already offers those same courses in its universities, students were made to spend an entire first year learning French before beginning their programmes, and the money could be better deployed to support tertiary institutions at home.
“The bilateral education agreement was not making sense. Again, to us as a government. It was a way to waste government funds. And this president did not waste any funds,,” he said.
The Minister also raised concerns about abuse in the administration of the scheme and recounted an instance where an aide told him that two of his brothers who were selected for the scholarship and were supposed to be in Morocco were instead in Nigeria.
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He stressed that the current administration would not continue spending money in the same way, noting that several other countries may still offer scholarships to Nigerians but Nigeria under President Tinubu would not.
The funds previously committed to the BEA, he said, will now be redirected through sustainable local channels including TETFund, and the Nigeria Educational Research and Data Bank, to support infrastructure, technical and engineering education, and the newly launched the Tertiary Institutions National Laureate Prize, for research and innovation.
The Minister described the shift as part of a broader agenda to build an education system that produces solutions, enterprises and national value rather than only certificates, and to ensure that scholarship, research and innovation are celebrated within the country.