The Federal Government is reviewing its foreign scholarship programmes and bilateral education agreements as part of efforts to reduce unnecessary spending and channel more resources into Nigerian tertiary institutions.
Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, said the government could no longer justify using public funds to send students abroad to study courses already offered by Nigerian universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.
Alausa explained that the review was aimed at building domestic capacity and ensuring that government expenditure on education delivers better value.
He recalled that shortly after taking office, he received a proposal for about 100,000 Nigerian students to travel to Morocco to study English-language programmes, including mass communication and journalism.
The minister said the proposal raised concerns because the courses were already available in Nigeria, while the students would first have to spend a year learning French before beginning their programmes.
Alausa said the cost of sponsoring such a large number of students abroad could not be justified when Nigeria already had significant capacity in its tertiary institutions.
He described the previous Bilateral Education Agreement arrangement as an inefficient use of public funds, stressing that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu would not support wasteful government spending.
The latest policy follows the Federal Government’s earlier decision to discontinue government-funded BEA scholarships while maintaining financial support for students who were already beneficiaries under the previous arrangement.
The government has clarified that existing scholarship beneficiaries will continue receiving support until they complete their studies, while new government-funded awards under the programme have been stopped following the review.
However, the policy does not constitute a complete ban on scholarships offered to Nigerians by foreign governments. Countries willing to independently sponsor Nigerian students can continue to do so, without necessarily requiring financial contributions from the Nigerian government.
Alausa said the circumstances that led to the establishment of large-scale overseas scholarship programmes about 20 years ago have changed significantly.
According to him, Nigeria has since expanded its capacity across universities, polytechnics and colleges of education, reducing the need to send large numbers of students abroad.
The scholarship review is part of wider reforms by the Federal Ministry of Education under President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
The reforms include strengthening tertiary institutions, expanding technical and vocational education, improving digital learning, supporting research and innovation, and aligning education more closely with the needs of the economy.
The minister has consistently maintained that government spending on education must produce measurable results, particularly in view of Nigeria’s limited resources and other development priorities.
He said the decision to retain more education spending within the country was not simply about withdrawing foreign scholarships, but about directing resources towards areas where they can have greater impact.
Alausa cited cases where scholarship beneficiaries who were expected to study abroad were instead enrolled in Nigerian universities, saying such situations further demonstrated the need for a review.
Meanwhile, the government is expanding domestic support for students through scholarships, bursaries and the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, which provides financial assistance to students in tertiary institutions.
The minister said the broader objective is to develop a tertiary education system capable of producing the skills, research and innovations needed for national development.
He also recently inaugurated the Tertiary Institution National Gallery Prize Committee to recognise outstanding academic research and innovation, particularly projects with potential for commercialisation and industrial use.
Alausa said undergraduate researchers should be able to move from academic research to industrial application, entrepreneurship and innovation.
He stressed that Nigeria could no longer judge the success of its education system simply by the number of certificates awarded, arguing that countries that succeed in the 21st century will be those capable of transforming knowledge and research into economic and industrial value.
