Adefioye Iyunade
Stranded Nigerian students on overseas scholarship of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) have continued to suffer 12 days after President Muhammadu Buhari directed the agency to pay their outstanding dues immediately.
Some of the affected students writing on the official Twitter handle of the NDDC Scholars 2019 have lambasted the NDDC management for flouting the presidential directive on their plight.
“Do we have to pray for God to rain down his judgment on you guys before you do the needful? It is a pity you can’t obey the order of a whole President,” one of the scholars said.
The students had earlier protested at the Nigerian High Commission in London. The students said they were exposed to hunger and embarrassment in their institutions due to the non-payment of their dues.
Although President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the agency to pay the students’ outstanding dues, the NDDC is yet to comply despite assurances from the Director of Corporate Affairs, Charles Odili, that the outstanding fees would be settled within a week of the president’s directive.
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The students however dismissed suggestions that the NDDC could not pay because the money was inflated and there was need to remove ghost names from the list.
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The students, in an open letter, faulted the claims, saying the group failed to do due diligence on current and outstanding fees and allowances owed previous students under the scheme.
They said: “For clarity, the scholarship sum is $30,000, which covers tuition and maintenance fees. Generally, the number of scholars each year revolves around 200. There are also outstanding PHD students from previous years, 2016 to 2018.
“A simple arithmetic will show that the 2019 scholarship sum itself will amount to figures around $6 million and adding outstanding PhD scholars from previous years will definitely push the figures higher in a situation where all 2019 scholars had utilized their scholarship. We wonder where the Citizens Quest got their $1.9 million from.”
The students lamented that the process of vetting the list has been ongoing for almost one year, adding that besides the scholarship awards; each school verified the award letters from the NDDC before accepting students.
“Each embassy and high commission also verifies the scholarship letters and details before granting study visas. On the resumption in schools, scholars were mandated by the NDDC to upload tuition invoices and their new foreign bank accounts, foreign house address, foreign telephone numbers on a portal managed by the NDDC. Our schools always contact the NDDC requesting for our funds.”
Reacting on the development, the Ijaw Forward Movement (IFM) wondered why the IMC appointed by the President would not comply with the President’s directive.
The National Coordinator, IFM, Alfred Kemepado, said in sane countries, disobedience of presidential order is the highest level of insubordination and attracts immediate punishment.
Kemepado said it was unbelievable that the IMC members were quiet despite their flagrant disregard to Buhari’s orders.
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“The office of the President must be respected, especially by his appointees. We will be doomed if the country degenerates to the level where the words of Mr. President are no longer respected. I call on the IMC of NDDC to immediately carry out the order of the President,” he said.
Kemepado wondered why scholarship students sponsored by the NDDC, an agency created to develop the Niger Delta region, would be abandoned for over one year describing the condition of the students as embarrassing.
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