Reviewing Nigeria’s overseas scholarship policies

The recent global economic crunch sequel to the collapse of international price of crude oil has exposed the soft belly of improperly articulated policies of Nigerian administrations over the years. The visible manifestations of this global crisis in Nigeria are the non payment of workers' salaries, collapse of infrastructure, and increasing incidence of violent crimes including armed robbery and kidnapping. In its more subtle but by no means, not less significant form is the default of the various tiers of governments in their international financial commitments including payment of stipends and school fees in respect of Nigerian students who are on federal and state scholarships. This has left many students in very dire straits, in danger of starvation and eviction and possible deportation to their father land without accomplishing the mission of a life time! The plight of 350 students of Rivers State extraction, studying abroad under the auspices of the State's overseas sch olarship scheme seem to have made headlines in both local and international tabloids.

First indication of problem with payments of stipends and other entitlement emerged in June 2015 when the newly elected governor of Rivers State, Barrister Nyesom Wike signalled his intention to review the overseas scholarship scheme initiated by his predecessor Mr. Rotimi Amaechi. The reason is the dwindling resources at the disposal of the state government and what he termed "perceived scam". By December 2015, it was obvious that the Rivers State government would no longer continue to fund the overseas scholarship programme and had concluded plans to repatriate beneficiaries except those in their final year of study. The extent of the problem nationwide may never be fully appreciated. In June last year, the President of Ijaw Youth Council Worldwide, Mr. Udengs Eradiri suggested that over 6,000 Niger Delta students mainly of Ijaw extraction are highly distressed over the inability of the sponsoring governments to pays the fees and stipends. If we estimate that over 20, 000 Ni gerian students may be benefiting from the overseas scholarship scheme nationwide, at an average rate of about N5, 000,000 per student per annum for both undergraduate and post graduate programmes, this may translate into about N100 billion annually! This represents a huge capital flight from the Nigerian government into the educational system of the benefiting foreign universities at the detriment of our local institutions. Many of the beneficiaries of the Nigerian scholarship programmes never return to Nigeria at the completion of their studies, preferring to secure appointment in their host countries. This contributes to the perpetual brain drain that is characteristic of the developing countries and the perpetually poor staffing position of the public and private institutions at home. Incidentally, the little fund available is frittered away through corrupt practices and funding of an over bloated and incompetent administrative machinery.

Fifty years after independence and about as many years of overseas training of young Nigerians in advanced institutions in the West, the Nigerian tertiary institutions still remain grossly understaffed and ill equipped. Those that have benefitted from the cutting edge training in the West loathe returning to the crude conditions that still persist at home. We would need to change the picture on ground if we must move forward. With the yawning gap between the conditions of study at home and abroad, no normal thinking person would choose to return to Nigeria after studying abroad. The current situation when the nation cannot afford to fund the overseas scholarship is a golden opportunity to look inwards and improve on the facilities in Nigerian institutions.

The available funds must be used to upgrade the existing institutions, at least to standards comparable to some of the ones we throng to abroad. The existing funds could be made to go a long way by reducing the administrative burden by cutting down on an over-bloated and highly inefficient administrative work force which consumes a huge chunk of the available funds. This is in line with the recommendations of the NEEDS assessment report on the nation's universities calling for an immediate reorganization of the Registry and Bursary departments of Nigerian universities to produce leaner, more effective and professional units. But worse still is the brazen corruption that is characteristic of many Nigerian universities with inflated contracts, innumerable ghost workers, and unauthorized purchase of vehicles, all at the expense of funding academic programmes. Monies collected from different categories of students never manage to trickle down to the academic facilities like the clas srooms and the laboratories which are perennially overcrowded and devoid of functional equipment. An improvement in the operating environment at home would at least entice some of the students trained abroad to return home. Many trained in some of the best universities in the West have been rendered absolutely ineffective by the absolute desolation in the establishments we call universities here in Nigeria. The occasion of the economic collapse is an opportunity to deemphasize overseas training and refocus on rebuilding the Nigerian university system, to provide facilities for training effective manpower locally!

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