About 94 Nigerians students studying within the foreign countries under the Niger Delta Development Commission scholarship scheme have accused the agency of deliberately refusing to pay them.
Recall that after agitation and protests from the scholars within the uk , President Muhammadu Buhari ordered that the NDDC pay all the scholars .
The commission paid arrears of 2016 and 2019 sets with the 2018 scholarship beneficiaries -- 40 PHD and 54 MSC – overlooked .
The commission’s head of Corporate Affairs, Charles Odili, said the NDCC was verifying the status of the scholars and can pay them.
Odili on Friday described the scholars as “hirelings, most of whom are masquerading because the commission’s scholars”, adding that they were a part of a campaign orchestrated by powerful individuals against the agency.
Reacting, the scholars condemned the statement by Odili, saying the NDDC could verify their scholarship status on their portal, which is accessible by the management.
They accused the commission of handpicking those to pay while leaving them out from the President’s directive to pay all scholars.
“In other words, for no justifiable reason whatsoever, the NDDC selectively handpicked those it paid with no specified requirements and declined to pay tuition, grants, and maintenance for 2018 scholars for no justifiable reason whatsoever. By this, we perceived some level of nepotism and nostalgic undertone displaced by the NDDC.
“This came a rude shock to us because historical, the NDDC already had always paid the fees and maintenance of students within the order during which they were incurred, that is, from the earliest to the newest .
“While it's unclear why a whole cohort of students are excluded from recent payments and with the rumour mill running about the said scholars being selectively victimized for protesting against the delay in their due payment remittances, media houses and NDDC began to front the knowledge to the well-meaning public that the NDDC has made all outstanding payments to foreign postgraduate scholars.
“It isn't true that NDDC has paid all its scholars because as of date, the NDDC has not made payments to any of the outstanding scholars from the 2018 scholarship cohort (amongst which are masters and PhD Scholars),” they said.
The scholars urged the Presidency and National Assembly to mandate the NDDC to make sure payment of 2018 set as they were in danger of forfeiting their certificates.
With these, they added, we would like to draw the attention of the Presidency and therefore of the National Assembly to the very fact that the NDDC and its NDDC and its NDDC administration are openly refusing to suits the directive of President Buhari to pay all outstanding fees and maintenance stipends of all scholars without fail.
“We, therefore, implore the NDDC to measure up to their responsibility and fully suits the President's directive to pay all outstanding scholarship fees and maintenance allowance. We further implore the NDDC to try to to the needful and refrain from further bringing the name of the country into disrepute.”
The 2018 foreign scholars are suffering from hardship caused by the refusal of the NDDC to form payments as at when due.
Two of the scholars had their studentship within the University of Coventry and University of Leeds revoked last year because the NDDC did not pay their registration fees.
Many of them were logging out of their portals to the school.
They told NaijaGistReporters they weren't sure where the food would come from.
They also said their academic transcripts are seized thanks to the non-payment of their tuition.
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