Published 8th Oct, 2023

By Timileyin Akinmoyeje

Nigerian beneficiaries of the Bilateral Education Agreement Scholarship to Romania have not received allowances from the federal government for January to April 2022, FIJ has gathered.

In interviews with FIJ, some of the scholars shared how the prolonged pay deficit has disrupted their lives and constantly threatened their concentration. Among many things, the scholars laid emphasis on a singular concern: they are unable to settle the bills that accumulated during that period, and the strain has persistently affected their finances.

Omidina Ikong (not real name) for instance, described it as suffering in silence. He believes that his performance might be even better than what it is if he did not have to worry about pilling debts.

“Some parts of the Nigerian scholarship funds meant for us have been withheld since 2022. As a result, we students have faced a lot of hardship for three years to cover our basic needs,” Ikong explained to FIJ.

“We can confirm that all scholars in Romania, at least for our set, are owed a considerable amount of money, and this cannot be overlooked. For some of us, like me, that depend on the scholarship for living expenses, medical insurance and other educational costs, the consequences have been severe. The delay has caused me financial hardship, and it has affected our ability to focus on our studies.”

In a more personal explanation, Abraham Oladele (not real name), described how he and his friends had been handicapped financially. According to him, his field of study leaves little to no room for working to earn a living. Oladele told FIJ that he had had to cut down expenses and borrow from friends in Romania and family back home.

“I cut down my expenses and postponed some of them that I couldn’t meet at that moment, and these bills come every month, so I had to borrow from family and friends. You have classes; you have your thesis to focus on. We were totally dependent on the pay for living, medicals and even educational expenses,” he said.

“For me, the only reason I have held out this long is because I had always taken responsibility for myself. I didn’t pressure them at home too much. I cannot say for others.”

Ngozi Ada gave a glimpse of how hard it had been living with other students to cut down the cost of accommodation. For her, it is one challenge living with people from other nationalities, but it is even a greater challenge when the room is very small.

“Although some of us didn’t have to pay for accommodation, the living conditions of sharing a very small room of 3.65 m by 5.75 m ( and even smaller in some other schools) with two other persons has not been very comfortable,” she said.

“Pairing with other students from other countries having different moral backgrounds was difficult. With regards to feeding, we had to rely on the little the Romanian government gave every month, apart from the summer months when the school was on break.”

“Other expenses ( like bus tickets, group projects and personal hygiene), we had to manage and borrow from friends around.”

For context, the annual inflation rate in Romania had increased up to 16.4 percent as of December 2022, according to the World Bank. At the time, the price of food was estimated to have gone up by about 22 percent.

BACKGROUND: WHAT DOES THE SCHOLARSHIP CONTRACT SAY?

In October 2020, the Federal Government of Nigeria selected 11 students as beneficiaries of the Bilateral Education Agreement Scholarship to Romania.

Per the contract between the Nigerian Government, the Romanian government and the Nigerian scholars, the students are entitled to monthly allowances that cover feeding, local transport, equipment, book, clothing, health insurance, postgraduate thesis and travel tickets.

SCHOLARSHIP APPROVAL LETTER FOR NIGERIAN STUDENTS ON SCHOLARSHIP TO ROMANIA

According to the Federal Government of Nigeria, the scholarship entitles the students to:

Supplementation allowances of $500 per month ($6,000 per annum) to augment feeding, local transport and equipment/book;
warm clothing allowance of $250 (Per annum);
Health Insurance of $200 (Per annum);
Take-off grant of N100,000 before departure;
Postgraduate Research grant of $1000 per annum
One way ticket and a return ticket at the end of their courses

The scholars, however, explained to FIJ that they did not receive monthly allowances from January to April, alongside some annual allowances listed in their scholarship letters.

Nadir Yusuf (not real name), another Nigerian scholar in Romania, mentioned the specific allowances yet to be disbursed. He tallied the outstanding allowances to a total of $3,450.

“To be specific, we are owed allowances for January to April 2022. The total money is 3450 USD. The breakdown is as follows: 2000 USD for our upkeep for four months, 1000 USD postgraduate research grant for 2022, 250 USD for 2022 warm clothing and 200 USD for 2022 medical insurance.”

‘GOVERNMENT’S RESPONSES ARE DISCOURAGING‘

During his interview with FIJ, Ikong explained that the students had reached out to the Nigerian Government on multiple occasions through the ministry of education but the responses had been progressively demoralising.

“It is also important to note that we have sent delegates to liaise with the necessary authorities regarding the disbursement of our unpaid allowances, but overtime, these efforts have been unproductive. The scholarship board has remained silent about the disbursement of these funds,” Ikong explained.

As one of the delegates of the scholars to the Federal Government, Yusuf expressed pessimism that more negotiations would yield any positive result. He believed that the parastatals involved had things to hide on why the allowances had been delayed.

“Several contacts were made to the director, Federal Scholarship Board, both by the embassy and ourselves, but to no avail. In fact, it has come to a point that no one is giving us any encouraging news anymore. It is as if no one knows what happened. So we came to a realisation that something is fishy somewhere,” Yusuf said.

Oladele corroborated Yusuf. He added that it was not the first time scholars would be owed. According to him, they also made a public plea to the government in 2021.

“Back in 2021, we had a similar issue. But it was just a disbursement delay. This one seems to be more than that. It is important to mention that we got payment from May to the end of the year.

“But for some reasons, no one wants to take responsibility for the missing months. Also, the Romanian government is responsible for our tuition. So, it’s basically free; we don’t have to worry about that,” he explained to FIJ.

WHAT IS THE FEDERAL SCHOLARSHIP BOARD SAYING?

FIJ contacted the Federal Scholarship Board over the scholars’ complaints. Asta Ndajiwo, the director of the board, explained that it was not the board’s or ministry of education’s fault.

“The scholarship was paid with a wrong address. It was addressed to the embassy in Romania. The Central Bank in Romania could, therefore, not pay the Nigerian Embassy since the destination wasn’t specified. Instead, the central bank in Romania returned the money to the CBN, which is the originating bank. The payment schedule officer in the ministry is rescheduling back with the appropriate address,” she explained to FIJ.

When FIJ asked how long it might take, she said it depended on the CBN.

“It was one payment for four months. How long it will take will depend on the CBN, as they are the sending partner,” she said.

FIJ wrote to the CBN on October 5, after trying all of the available contact phone numbers to no avail. However, the CBN had not responded to the email at press time.

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