Beneficiaries of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Scholarship scheme in the United Kingdom have protested the non-payment of their tuition and allowances.
Monday’s protest is part of the series of protests by the students in recent past. The students have been complaining that the non-payment of their school fees have put them at the risk of being deported and their admission terminated by their various universities.
The students who took their protest to the Nigerian High Commission in London on Monday, lamented their neglect by the NDDC, noting that they have been stranded since the agency stopped paying their tuition and allowances one year after they got their scholarships.
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The students sat on the floor in front of the high commission and insisted that officials should speak on their behalf to President Muhammadu Buhari. According to them, they have been begging for food in addition to being at the risk of deportation.
The placard carrying protesters said they had been abandoned in the heat of COVID-19 pandemic. Some of the placards read, “We are Tired of Complaining,” ” Abandoned in The Heat of COVID-19 Pandemic”, “NDDC Failed Us”, “‘We Have Been Thrown Out of School”; “We Risk Deportation”, “Must We have a protest to get paid?”, and “We Are Scholars, Not Militants”.
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The students said, “We have continued to receive threats to be suspended from studying and thrown out for not paying rent. We will continue to protest until government pays our tuition and allowances. We have spoken with the consular and they have promised to contact the presidency. We have been deregistered from school and we will be deported within 60 days maximum.”
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An official of the high commission was seen in a trending video appealing to the protesters to calm down, assuring them that their concerns would be addressed.
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“My integrity will be at stake if I call somebody else to act as the minister on the telephone. It will not solve your problem. What matters most is that we are giving you our words,” the official said.
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