Some of the students who cannot cope with the financial burden have reportedly returned to Nigeria.
About 19 Nigerian postgraduate students who were granted scholarship by the presidential amnesty programme have accused the Federal Government of abandoning them in Russia.
The students who according to the Cable are in their final year at the People’s Friendship University of Russia said the coordinator of the presidential amnesty programme, Paul Borohstopped sending funds to them in June 2016.
Recall that on Tuesday, March 13, 2018 President Muhammad Buhari sacked Boroh and replaced him with Charles Dokubo.
One of the students, Abilo Franz in a statement sent to the Cable said six months after they stopped receiving funds from Boroh, a delegation of students met him in his office in Abuja on Friday, September 16, 2016.
According to Fanz, after hours of deliberation with the coordinator of their scholarship, they were asked to go back and continue with their education, while assuring them of continued sponsorship
However, he said a circular was sent to them two months later, asking them to return home.
He said, “We met with the SA (Boroh) and but the SA gave us his final words to go and continue with our studies. Hopefully, we returned to Russia and disclosed the good news to our colleagues,” Franz said in a statement.
“I was in constant contact with the SA by telephone conversation and email for about two months, on the 10th of November 2016 we received a secular from the SA asking us to return home that the Presidential Amnesty office does not have the resources to finance our ambition to further education, barely a week of assuring us by mail that our tuition will be paid.
“It was a shock as everyone had spent his saving to make first quarter payment of tuition and we were at the peak of the first semester of the first academic year.”
Some students have returned home
Fanz further explained that they have been left to fend for themselves since the funds stopped coming.
He added that five students among them who could not cope with financial burden had to return home while one of them is in detention for allegedly involving in a crime.
He said, “from that moment on, we have made several attempts to get through to the SA, through direct email, phone calls, SMS and the Nigerian embassy here in Moscow but all attempts were ignored, we kept pleading because we had expended all what we had to secure our admission,”
“Up till when He was sacked, we were left without any financial support. We have been living without proper medical care, accommodation since August 2016. No fund to finance our final year project.
“We, the abandoned students are appealing to the new SA, Prof Charles Quakers Dokubo (NIIA) to come to our aid.”
Moreover, the pioneer president of the students, Enenimibo-Ofori Briggs, that their plight had been heightened by the scarcity of jobs for foreigners in Russia.
Briggs said their tuition is between $5000 to $2000 depending on department adding that they have written several times to the new SA but no response.
Source: News Agencies
