Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of abandoning Nigerian students studying overseas under the Bilateral Education Agreement (BEA). He claimed about 1,600 students have been left stranded without stipends or support.

Key points:

• The BEA scholarship, started in 1993 and revitalized in 1999, allowed Nigerian students to pursue undergraduate and postgraduate studies abroad via partnerships with foreign countries.
• Atiku alleged the scheme was discontinued without notice, leaving students without stipends; outstanding allowances exceed $6,000 per student.
• Stipends were unpaid from Sept–Dec 2023, reduced by 56% in 2024, and stopped entirely in 2025.
• Students faced hunger, rent arrears, and hardship, with at least one student in Morocco dying last November due to the crisis.
• Protests by students and parents in Abuja received little official response, and Atiku criticized comments by the Education Minister suggesting students could simply return home, calling it “expulsion by neglect.”
• He warned that the BEA, once a diplomatic bridge, now lies broken, leaving students seeking reassurance from their country.