Beneficiaries of the Nigerian government’s National Award Scholarship have written to the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, seeking payment for the 2025 academic year.
In a letter seen by PREMIUM TIMES, and signed by five beneficiaries, the scholars said they are yet to receive the grants, despite a verification exercise in September and multiple letters to the education ministry and the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation.
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The signees are Wisdom Makpa for Southern Beneficiaries, Muhammad Yakubu for Northern Beneficiaries; Hosea Joseph, Alameen Abubakar and Kabiru Datti.
“Majority of us have relied on the scholarship to support our academic needs as it enables us to pursue our academic dreams with less financial burden,” parts of the letter read.
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“We therefore kindly request that you bring this matter to the attention of all relevant authorities, including the Office of the Accountant General.”
Silence after verification
One of the beneficiaries, Kabir Datti, told PREMIUM TIMES via telephone that the funds for 2024 was similarly delayed and paid in February last year.
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Mr Datti explained that although there’s no specific timeline for payments, it is usually made before the end of the year.
“(For 2025), the verification was done in September,” he said. “We were expecting the payments about a month later, but up till now nothing”.
In October, the students wrote to the Office of the Accountant General requesting the payment, according to a copy of the letter seen by this newspaper.
In response, PREMIUM TIMES gathered that the Accountant General wrote to the Federal Scholarship Board, a department of the education ministry, requesting clarification on the status of the payment and approvals.
It is unclear if the education ministry has provided the details.
The spokesperson for the ministry, Folasade Boriowo, did not respond to a phone call and message requesting comments and clarifications.
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Increased grant, delayed payment
In July, the minister, Mr Alausa, disclosed that the government has increased the scholarship grant by 50 per cent, raising the grants for undergraduates from N300,000 to N450,000.
For Master’s students, the government raised it from N400,000 to N600,000 and N500,000 to N750,000 for Doctoral students.
However, the undergraduate students said they have yet to receive the payment for last year, despite completing the verification exercise in September.
In November, the House of Representatives launched an investigation into the non-payment of scholarship stipends to Nigerian students studying locally and overseas.
According to the House Committee on Student Loans, Scholarships, and Higher Education Financing, chaired by Ifeoluwa Ehindero, the investigation seeks to ensure that federal government-funded scholarship programmes are administered efficiently and transparently, in line with the terms contained in award letters.
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