‘Our Children Hungry, Dying’—Parents Of Nigerian Scholars Abroad Protest Over Unpaid Stipends

Parents and beneficiaries of the Federal Government’s Bilateral Education Agreement (BEA) scholarship programme staged a protest at the Federal Ministry of Finance on Monday, demanding immediate payment of outstanding stipends owed to Nigerian students studying abroad.

The protesters with placards bearing “President Tinubu, Please Intervene,” “Stop the 25 per cent allowance cut, support our scholars,” “We have lost a child,” and “Pay BEA Scholars today” started their protest at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and moved to the Ministry of Finance to cry out over the hardship endured by their children studying across Europe, Asia, Northern Africa, and other partner nations.

Addressing journalists at a press conference, Mr Abang Matthew, a parent of a BEA scholar, expressed anguish over the federal government’s persistent failure to fulfil its obligations to the students.

“We stand before you today with heavy hearts, trembling voices, and a pain that words can barely express. We are the parents and scholars of the BEA Scholarship Scheme, children of this nation who left home with dreams, with hope, and with the promise that their government would support their education abroad. But today, we are gathered here not in joy, not in celebration, but in deep sorrow and desperation. Because the Nigerian government has failed our children,” Matthew said.

According to the parents, BEA scholars have endured unprecedented hardship over the past three years due to non-payment and reduction of stipends.

“In 2025, no payment was made to scholars throughout the year. Students have survived an entire academic year without stipends, living in foreign countries with rising inflation and strict immigration policies. Many are reportedly hungry, homeless, and mentally drained.

“In 2024, stipends were unilaterally reduced from $500 to $220, barely enough to cover feeding, let alone accommodation, transportation, books, medical care, or utilities. In 2023, students suffered a shortage of approximately two months of payments, plus four additional months in arrears that remain unsettled.

According to him, the situation took a devastating turn with the death of Bashir Malami, a Nigerian BEA scholar in Morocco.

“We are burying our children. Let the nation hear this clearly: we have lost one of our own. The death of Bashir Malami is a stain on our national conscience. His passing was preventable. He died because he could not access medical care he urgently needed because the government failed to send the stipend that would have kept him alive,” Matthew said.

Parents say many scholars are currently sick, depressed, hungry, and hopeless, with their mental and physical health deteriorating.

“Many others are currently sick, depressed, hungry, and hopeless. Their mental health is deteriorating. Their physical health is collapsing. And their dreams, the dreams they left Nigeria with, are fading away.

“Parents back home are equally drowning in debt, borrowing from neighbours, selling assets, and taking loans to support children who were supposed to be sponsored by the Nigerian government,” he said.

They appealed to President Bola Tinubu, the Ministers of Finance and Education, and the Members of the National Assembly, to act before many other scholars die too.

The protesters put forward five demands, which include the immediate payment of all outstanding backlogs – 16 months in arrears plus approximately eight months of accumulated shortfalls from 2023 and 2024 – restoration of the original monthly stipend of $500, establishment of a reliable payment framework, provision of accommodation allowances, and a comprehensive welfare monitoring system.