Federal Government Denies Abandoning Students in Morocco, Disowns Fake Scholarship Offers

The Federal Government has dismissed reports of abandoning Nigerian scholarship students in Morocco, labeling them false and misleading. It also clarified that no new government-funded international scholarships were awarded in 2025.

Education Minister Maruf Tunji Alausa stated that all students enrolled under the Bilateral Education Scholarship (BES) Programme before 2024 have received payments up to that budget year. He attributed any recent delays in disbursement to fiscal challenges being addressed by the Ministries of Education and Finance.

The Minister specifically denied that any new scholarships were issued in October 2025 or later, declaring related documents circulating online as fake. This follows a recent policy shift to discontinue funding for overseas courses that are now readily available within Nigerian universities and polytechnics.

According to Alausa, only scholarships fully financed by foreign governments are currently being supported. He assured that students already enrolled abroad under previous arrangements will continue to receive government support until graduation. Students who choose to withdraw can formally apply to be reintegrated into Nigerian institutions, with the government covering their return travel costs. The minister emphasized that these reforms aim to improve efficiency and prevent the misuse of public funds.