The Federal Government has set aside N1.764 billion in the 2026 Appropriation Bill to fund 300 fresh scholarships for Nigerians under the Bilateral Education Agreement (BEA) programme.
The allocation, listed under the Federal Ministry of Education, will cover allowances, health insurance, travel, and other essential needs for these scholars.
It forms part of the ministry’s total 2026 budget of N2,398,761,320,016.
This comes despite officially discontinuing the programme last year, citing waste of public funds and courses already available in Nigerian universities.
Details from the budget document show it allocates N1.764 billion for the conduct and implementation of fresh 300 scholarships to Nigerians to study in countries that have bilateral education agreements with Nigeria under item ERGP24230073.
A further N105 million has been earmarked for the verification of BEA schools in 12 countries by officials of the Federal Ministry of Education in item ERGP24230092.
In addition to this, N5.6 billion under the line item ERGP24230060 is designated for the servicing of ongoing 1,532 BEA scholars in donor countries, which includes payment of supplementation allowance, medical, health insurance, warm clothing and postgraduate allowance.
These costs are intended to cover Nigerian students studying in countries such as Russia, China, Cuba, Romania, Turkey, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Serbia, Hungary, Ukraine, Mexico, Venezuela and Kazakstan.
