Nigerian students in Russia protest against nigerian government over 8month delay in releasing their scholarships

SIR: This is a save-our-souls call from Nigerian students in Russia under the Bilateral Education Agreement (BEA) programme of the Federal Scholarship Board. If something is not urgently done to help our situation, Nigerians should expect to see screaming headlines like Russian Government deports Nigerian Scholarship Students for begging for alms on the streets of Russia; Russia set to deport Nigerian scholarship students for working without work permits; Nigerian students starve to death in Russia; Female Nigerian students prostitute for food in Russia.

The BEA scheme is a joint program run by the Nigerian government (through the Federal Ministry of Education) in collaboration with governments of other countries such as Russia, China, Cuba, Morocco, Algeria, Ukraine, etc. Under the scheme, outstanding students from all the states of the federation are nominated by the Nigerian government to the foreign governments. The receiving-country then places the scholars in universities and pays their tuition while the Nigerian government pays for students’ visas, flight, and a monthly allowance of US$500.

In the last seven months, we have not received our stipends from the Federal Scholarship Board (FSB), Abuja. Not a kobo or a single cent. Having not received a single cent in the last seven months from the government that sent us abroad, how are we expected to survive? The average cost of living in most Russian cities is about US$750 monthly; in cities like St. Petersburg and Moscow, it gets as high as US$1,000. This means that the US$500 the FSB is supposed to pay us is grossly inadequate. That notwithstanding, the US$500 is never paid as at when due. The earliest we have received our stipends in the last four years is six months late. Every year, the Association of Nigerian Scholarship Students in Russia (ANSSIR) keeps writing newspaper articles as this, including letters to the House of Representatives, Senate and to the Federal Scholarship Board. Our numerous requests to increase our stipends and to pay them as at and when due has always gone unanswered. The excuse always given is that the budget has not been passed. Does it take seven months to pass the budget every year? What about the supplementary budget? Why can’t provisions be made for our stipends in the supplementary budget? Why can’t our stipends be paid monthly like Nigerian workers (such as the staff of the FSB) and students from other countries such as Botswana and Ghana?

Nigerians need to understand that the visas issued us by the Russian government are student visas, which preclude any form of employment. This means that we are not permitted by law to work even as cleaners, waiters or waitress, not part-time, not even during the holidays. Russian immigration laws are very strict and the Russian authorities are quick to punish offenders. Earlier this year, some foreign students were deported for working at a restaurant, in addition to the owners of the restaurant being made to pay huge fines. We would have loved to work to support ourselves but we are not permitted to work.

More worrisome is that that our yearly student visa expires in another four weeks. To renew it, we need a US$40 renewal fee. Failure to renew it 20 days before expiry could lead to deportation. Our problems still does not end there. Some of us our currently doing internship either at the hospital (medical students) or airport (aeronautical engineering students) and need money for transportation.

We plead with the federal government to speedily come to our rescue to save us from trauma.