Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
Foreign universities have formally raised the alarm over unpaid scholarships awarded by the Kaduna State Government to students studying abroad, with documents showing that some beneficiaries are facing threats of expulsion and serious visa complications due to outstanding tuition fees.
Correspondence obtained by SaharaReporters from Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg in Germany and De Montfort University in Leicester, United Kingdom, reveals that the alleged failure by the Kaduna State Government to meet its scholarship obligations has placed beneficiaries under severe financial and academic pressure. The documents also show that while the Kaduna State Scholarship and Loans Board (KSSLB) issued letters promising multi-year funding to beneficiaries, payments were allegedly stopped before the end of the approved sponsorship periods.
In a letter dated February 17, 2025, Prof. Dr. Markus Engstler of the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology at Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg wrote to the Executive Secretary of the Kaduna State Scholarship and Loans Board, with the Kaduna State Governor copied. The letter, titled "Non-Payment of KDSG Scholarship," concerned a Kaduna State scholarship beneficiary who had been working in the university’s Department of Cell and Developmental Biology since 2023.
Prof. Engstler, who described himself as the Head of Department, Dean of Studies, and President of the German Life Sciences Association, said he had been actively supporting students from Africa for many years and maintained partnerships with Nigerian colleagues in Zaria, Abuja and Nsukka. He said he was impressed by the student’s academic ability and dedication, and offered the beneficiary an opportunity to join his department. "Since his arrival, this impression has only been reinforced. Nigeria and Kaduna State can take pride in having nurtured such a talented young scientist," he stated.
However, Engstler said he discovered with "great concern" that the student received the scholarship only for 2023, after which no further payments were made. He noted that this contradicted an earlier letter from the Kaduna State Scholarship and Loans Board dated August 15, 2022, which had assured the university of multi-year funding. "Without this commitment, the scholarship recipient would not have been granted a work permit or visa," he said.
According to the professor, the student’s stipend stopped completely in 2024, forcing him to provide temporary financial assistance to enable the beneficiary to continue his research. "I am deeply concerned that the stipend payments have ceased entirely since 2024. To ensure that he can continue his research and that his academic progress is not compromised, I have provided him with interim financial support using funds from the Federal Republic of Germany," Engstler stated. He appealed to the scholarship board to resolve the matter, describing the failure to pay as possibly an "unintentional oversight". Engstler also disclosed that €11,208 per year was required to be transferred into the student’s German Blocked Account.
The situation is particularly concerning given that the Kaduna State Government had previously taken steps to address the crisis. In March 2025, Governor Uba Sani cleared all outstanding tuition fees owed to foreign universities by Kaduna State-sponsored students, totalling $247,235.84, equivalent to N407,937,750. The payment covered fees for students abandoned by the previous administration in various countries, including those studying Medicine and Nursing. The beneficiaries included students who were unable to graduate, renew their visas, or access their academic records due to unpaid fees.
A breakdown of the settled tuition fees showed that Debrecen University (UK/Hungary) received $51,400.00 (N84.8 million), the University of Wollongong in Dubai got $13,827.08 (N22.8 million), the Medical University of Havana was paid $164,010.00 (N270.6 million), and KIU IUIU Uganda received $17,998.00 (N29.7 million).
Despite this intervention, the latest correspondence suggests that some students may still be facing payment issues, raising questions about the effectiveness of the government's efforts to resolve the scholarship crisis. The Kaduna State Government has maintained that it inherited a financial mess of monumental proportions, with the state burdened with a staggering debt of $587 million, N85 billion, and 115 contractual liabilities left behind by the previous administration. The government has argued that over 70 per cent of the state’s monthly allocation is now being used to service these inherited debts.
The Kaduna Democratic Front for Good Governance and Accountability has defended Governor Sani, arguing that the overseas scholarship programme was a flagship initiative of the previous administration, launched without adequate long-term funding to sustain the students sent abroad. The group noted that the Kaduna State House of Assembly Ad-hoc Committee had submitted a damning report on June 5, 2024, revealing significant unaccounted funds and irregularities in financial transactions.
Governor Sani has also directed the Kaduna State Scholarship and Loans Board to liaise with all foreign universities where Kaduna State students are studying to ascertain the status of their tuition fee payments. The directive was given with a view to settling any payment that may not have been captured in the Master List of the Scholarship. "The governor is determined to put in place a robust process that will end the hardship being experienced in foreign universities by Kaduna State students," the Executive Secretary of the Kaduna State Scholarship and Loans Board, Professor Yahya Saleh Ibrahim, said.
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