Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has launched a scathing critique of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, accusing it of “quietly” discontinuing the Bilateral Education Agreement (BEA) scholarship scheme. In a detailed statement released on Sunday, January 11, 2026, Atiku claimed that what was initially presented as a temporary five-year suspension has now evolved into the “outright abandonment” of approximately 1,600 young Nigerians studying overseas.He asserted that these scholars, who were sent to partner nations like China, Russia, Morocco, and Hungary to build Nigeria’s future workforce, have been left stranded without financial support, facing eviction and hunger.
The former Vice President highlighted the human cost of this policy shift, citing the tragic death of a Nigerian student in Morocco in November 2025 as a direct result of the financial hardship. According to Atiku, stipends were slashed by 56% in 2024—from $500 to just $220 a month—before stopping entirely throughout 2025. He noted that students are now owed more than $6,000 each in backdated allowances. Atiku described the government’s explanation that scarce funds must be managed “responsibly” as a cold, technocratic excuse that sacrifices the lives of the nation’s brightest children on the “altar of convenience.”
Atiku further condemned remarks attributed to education authorities suggesting that “fed up” students could be financed to return home, labeling the offer as “expulsion by neglect.” He argued that the BEA scheme was never a charity but a formal diplomatic pact rooted in shared progress and international obligations. By failing to honor these commitments, Atiku warned that Nigeria is destroying its global credibility and its relationship with strategic partner countries. He noted that while Nigerian scholars wait for a sign that their country still remembers them, they have become objects of pity among peers from other African nations that continue to fund their students.
