The Federal Government has set aside N1.764 billion in the 2026 Appropriation Bill to fund 300 fresh scholarships for Nigerians under the Bilateral Education Agreement (BEA) programme.
The allocation, listed under the Federal Ministry of Education, will cover allowances, health insurance, travel, and other essential needs for these scholars.
It forms part of the ministry’s total 2026 budget of N2,398,761,320,016.
This comes despite officially discontinuing the programme last year, citing waste of public funds and courses already available in Nigerian universities.
What the document is saying
Details from the budget document show it allocates N1.764 billion for the conduct and implementation of fresh 300 scholarships to Nigerians to study in countries that have bilateral education agreements with Nigeria under item ERGP24230073.
A further N105 million has been earmarked for the verification of BEA schools in 12 countries by officials of the Federal Ministry of Education in item ERGP24230092.
In addition to this, N5.6 billion under the line item ERGP24230060 is designated for the servicing of ongoing 1,532 BEA scholars in donor countries, which includes payment of supplementation allowance, medical, health insurance, warm clothing and postgraduate allowance.
These costs are intended to cover Nigerian students studying in countries such as Russia, China, Cuba, Romania, Turkey, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Serbia, Hungary, Ukraine, Mexico, Venezuela and Kazakstan.
What you should know
In April 2025, the Nigerian government officially discontinued the Bilateral Education Agreement (BEA) scholarship programme, citing inefficient use of public funds and the availability of the same courses in Nigerian universities.
Many students faced severe hardship due to delayed and reduced stipends, with payments completely halted from September 2023 to August 2024 and subsequent disbursements cut by more than half. ‘
The government decided to redirect funds from the BEA programme to domestic scholarship schemes to support a larger number of Nigerian students, while allowing current beneficiaries to complete their studies.
Last week, a viral social media post by Nigerian students under the BEA program in Morocco alleged delays in stipend payments, with claims of hardship, homelessness and lack of access to medical support.
In response, the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, clarified that all Nigerian students on federal scholarships who were enrolled before 2024 have received payments up to the 2024 budget year. He also stated that no new bilateral scholarship awards were issued in October 2025 or thereafter.
The 2026 budget allocation for 300 new scholarships is therefore unusual, coming after the programme had already been discontinued.
