8-month after: 168 awardees of NDDC Scholarship yet to be paid

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Some of the victims with placards

Some of the victims with placards

By Kazeem Ugbodaga

One hundred and sixty-eight awardees of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, scholarship have protested the non-payment of the scholarship eight months after the award.

At least 168 awardees were on 4 October, 2016 at the Pre-Departure Briefing of the successful 2016 NDDC Scholars at the Hotel Presidential, Port Harcourt, presented with an award letter which clearly provides for the payment of their Scholarship Fund.

For 2016 NDDC Scholars, in an open letter to the NDDC Managing Director expressed disgust over the inaction of the commission in payment of their entitlement.

The award letter had stipulated in Paragraph 2, Clause N that” “Your tuition fee shall be disbursed directly to your University from your scholarship fund, while the balance, if any will be paid into your account for your accommodation and upkeep.”

“Furthermore in accordance with the tradition of NDDC we were promised mobilisation fee to ameliorate the cost of our travel expenses, to wit; air ticket and visa application fees.

While we were assured of the payment of the said Scholarship Fund and Mobilisation Fee almost immediately by the former managing director, eight months after, not even a dime has been paid to the 168 awardees of the 2016 Scholarship scheme.

“We are indeed very weary of the long wait and dejected by the embarrassment this has caused us in our various universities abroad. The said scholarship funds were provided for in the 2016 budget, however, five months into 2017, we still have not been paid. One can only imagine that the delay is deliberate to enrich the pockets of those causing the needless delays.

“On the 5th of December, 2016, we paid a visit to the commission seeking to get an update on the delay of our funds. We were told that the funds were being processed and promised that it shall be disbursed soonest. Till date, we are still desperately waiting for the payment,” they lamented.

They explained that on the 20th of April, 2017, due to the massive outcry and suicide attempts by some of the 2016 scholars, the commission reluctantly paid 32 scholars out of the 200 awardees, leaving the remaining 168 to wallow in want, dejection and despair.

They added that since the commencement of their studies abroad, the quality of their lives had substantially declined due to the failure and reckless negligence of the commission to pay their upkeep funds.

“It beats our imagination how a country, through NDDC, can abandon its nationals in a foreign land for seven months with impunity and immeasurable disdain, without providing any means of survival for them as provided for in our scholarship award letters.

“Sadly, some of our colleagues were denied admission because of the non-reliance of the NDDC award letters by their institutions, because the commission is notorious abroad for its reckless and unnecessary delay in honouring its financial obligations to the institutions and scholars alike.

“Majority of the awardees are still in Nigeria because they could not afford the travel expense because NDDC has neglected to fund the travel expense as promised. In light of the aforestated, we humbly request a detailed update on the true situation of things and prompt payment of the scholarship and mobilization funds,” they said.

“Sadly, we are almost at the verge of losing academic focus because of lack of funds. Our daily sad but inevitable distractions in school includes but are not limited to: hunger and starvation, constant embarrassment from the University authorities who threaten to unregister our studentship and report us to immigration service for non-payment of fees, embarrassment from our landlords with the threat of eviction and lack of funds to buy basic clothing.

“On this basis, we do appeal to the office of the Ag. President, the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, the senior special assistant to the President on Foreign matters and diaspora, the Governors of the Niger Delta States and the Managing Director of NDDC for a quick intervention on this issue.

“Notwithstanding all the challenges we face, we are proud to be associated with NDDC and are appealing that the aforementioned issues be speedily addressed, as our academic performance depends to a large extent on a balanced psychological state of mind, which invariably determines how well we are able to achieve the objectives of the scholarship,’ they added.

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