FG to clear N8bn debt owed to students under scrapped BEA scholarship

The Federal Government has pledged to pay a total of N8bn in outstanding obligations owed to Nigerian students under the now-scrapped Bilateral Education Agreement (BEA) scholarship scheme.

 

The government also maintained that the programme was fraught with abuse and had drifted far from its original purpose.

 

Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, disclosed this on Tuesday during an interview on Channels Television, saying half of the outstanding payments had already been made.

 

“We’ve paid four billion of it. We’re disbursing the four billion now. This additional four billion will be approved… They will be settled,” he said.

 

According to him, the remaining N4bn is expected to be approved within two weeks following discussions with the Ministry of Finance.

 

Alausa said irregularities within the scheme became evident upon assuming office, citing questionable allocations and course placements.

 

He revealed that he was presented with a proposal to approve N650m for 60 students to study in Morocco, describing parts of the proposal as questionable.

 

“650 million for 60 students? … we have a Nigerian scholarship given to a student that will go study English in Morocco, a French-speaking country,” he said, adding that some listed courses included psychology, sociology, zoology and botany.

 

The minister said the BEA scheme was originally intended to support specialised training in fields such as engineering, medicine and aeronautics, but had been expanded over time into what he described as a general overseas education subsidy.

 

He further alleged that some beneficiaries were simultaneously enrolled in Nigerian universities while receiving BEA stipends, describing the situation as unacceptable.

 

“We also had incidences of kids that got this scholarship that they’re studying in Nigerian universities, getting the money. So, we stopped it,” he said.

 

The BEA programme was established through agreements with countries including China, Russia, Algeria, Hungary, Morocco, Egypt and Serbia, allowing Nigerian students to study abroad under government sponsorship.

 

Nigeria’s annual budget for the scheme rose from N3.2bn in 2022 to N8bn in 2025.

 

However, disbursement challenges began before its eventual suspension, with students reportedly going months without stipends between 2023 and 2024.

 

When payments resumed in September 2024, allowances were reportedly reduced by over 50 per cent, worsening hardship for affected students abroad.

 

The Federal Government officially scrapped the BEA scheme in April 2025, affecting more than 1,200 Nigerian students overseas.

 

Although a fresh N1.7bn allocation appeared in the 2026 budget, the government said it was a rollover provision rather than a revival of the programme.