N4bn spent on Jigawa students evacuated from Sudan – Govt

The Jigawa State Government spent N4bn relocating its 195 students from war-torn Sudan to India and Cyrus.

The Executive Secretary of the Jigawa State Scholarship Board, Saidu Magaji, disclosed this in Dutse, on Tuesday when he received six students who completed their studies in India and returned home.

“Six out of the 10 students relocated to India from Sudan due to civil unrest have graduated, four with a First Class in Nursing Science,” he said.

The board secretary said when the war raged in Sudan, the government proactively evacuated 195 students, adding that after all the tedious processes, the students safely returned to Nigeria.

“Even in Nigeria, as they arrived Abuja, the government decided that they should not be taken to Jigawa on buses because they were still in the trauma of the Sudan war experience, so we chartered an aircraft which took them straight to Jigawa airport where we also gave them transport fares to their respective homes,” he said.

He said upon their return, Governor Umar Namadi directed the scholarship board to secure admissions for the students, adding that 185 of them secured admissions to Near Institute University, Cyprus.

He said the 185 students were recently paid N4.5m each for resident permits, health insurance and living allowances.

Magaji said of the remaining 10 students who secured admission to Integral University, India, four were still undergoing their studies, while six others graduated and returned to Nigeria.

Of the six graduates, he said four females graduated with First Class honours in Nursing Sciences, while two others earned their degrees in Industrial Chemistry.

“Already, we approved N4bn for living allowances, tuition, resident permits and other financial issues and we already signed a bond with the students to serve in Jigawa for some time after graduation,” he added.

One of the Nursing Sciences graduates, Aisha Muhammad, expressed happiness, saying, “After the trauma of Sudan, we have now successfully completed our studies and we are ready to serve Jigawa State like never before.”

Also speaking, Abdullahi Isa, a graduate of Industrial Chemistry, said studying in India was a wonderful experience.

“We had thought our education was over, if not for the timely intervention of the Jigawa State government. Today, we are happy that we have successfully graduated, some of us with even First Class,” he added.