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.

Pls Mods push this to FP. The Govt. Needs to see dis.