Abolish FG’s foreign scholarships, council tells Buhari

The advice was contained in a statement signed by the president of the association, Ahmed Adamu.The statement said that the president-elect should consider discontinuing the scheme in his first 100 days in office, adding that Buhari should cut government’s expenditure by 50% in one year and increase bank rates and taxes.It explained that about N100 […]

The advice was contained in a statement signed by the president of the association, Ahmed Adamu.
The statement said that the president-elect should consider discontinuing the scheme in his first 100 days in office, adding that Buhari should cut government’s expenditure by 50% in one year and increase bank rates and taxes.
It explained that about N100 billion is spent on foreign scholarships, annually, by the Nigerian government, causing over supply of the nation’s currency and reducing the value of the Naira.
This figure is higher when added to the cost of other self-sponsored foreign education programmes.
It said that Nigerians studying in UK contribute 2.3% to the GDP growth in UK and their patronages contribute 2.6% to the overall UK employment.
“All these are injection to foreign economies, which could potentially be invested in Nigeria,” he said.
The statement said the savings from abolishing foreign scholarships, if injected into federal government-owned universities, will see them performing to the international standard in five years.
Similarly, it advised that all money saved from the austerity measures should be invested in manufacturing and industrial sectors.