Sen. Saliu Mustapha is currently representing the Kwara Central Senatorial District of Kwara State at Nigeria’s 10th Senate.
Recently, this distinguished senator, who is also the chairman, Senate Committee on Agricultural Services addressed Senate Press Corps (SPC) on a motion he moved on the need for the federal government to come to the rescue of stranded Nigerians who are studying abroad. He said that the federal government should do this by financing the students’ school fees, which if done, according to him would go a long way for the country and the students, among whom are either undergraduates or pursuing their masters, and Ekuson Nw’Ogbunka was there.
Read the excerpts.
Qtn: Distinguished Senator Saliu Mustapha, can you briefly speak on the motion you moved on the floor of the senate today?
Ans: Yes, I did, due to its importance and urgency. I moved a motion this afternoon on the floor of the senate, on the need for the federal government, precisely those concerned with tuitions, or international students, who either have gone for undergraduate or masters studies abroad. I had to raise this motion as a motion of urgent national importance, because of the negative dimension, this is beginning to have on Nigeria as a country.
Qtn: Don’t you think that things are very tight for the country to go into such ventures this time around?
Ans: Although we know things are tight, but when commitments are made, especially for students who don’t have any other means of livelihood, than what the scholarship provides for them, I feel that it is high time the country intervened. So I don’t think that these students should be left abandoned in the countries where they are
Qtn: How can the senate come in?
Ans: In the light of this, I called on the National Assembly to prevail on the authorities who are responsible for the students scholarship, so as to averse this negative image on our country, or on all of us, as Nigerians, because very soon you will hear that students are indulging in certain acts, or criminalities, for want of … I might not want to list them out, but it is already happening, both the male and female students. So that is the whole essence and import of the motion, so that the students can be given priority; so that we are able to save them from going into this hardship.
Qtn: With the belief that you must have known the number of the students you are making case for, could you tell us the number of these students?
Ans: I don’t have the actual number of the students who are involved, but from our little research, a lot of students, like I mentioned, in Morocco, Russia, even in war zone, Ukraine. Recently in the UK, and it was in the news and some of journalists reported it recently.
Qtn: Don’t you think that before making the case for the, the first thing to do is to find out the number of the students, for assessments?
Ans: Well, we don’t have the actual number; the actual number can come from those agencies who issued the scholarships. If contacted today, they must know the number of students involved.
Qtn: Don’t you think that it will be better to use the money to equip Nigerian universities for the students within and outside the country to study here, in Nigeria, instead of sending them abroad, which you know will affect our foreign exchange negatively?
Ans: On the issue of why do we allow the students to go abroad to study, when we have universities here; you can’t stop that, because some of these scholarships are from bilateral and multilateral partnerships. We also have foreign students who have come here to study, based on certain agreements.
What you should be asking is that, those students who come here to study, there home country, have they been able to meet up with the commitment. It isn’t about stopping; you must be seeking knowledge, you must be traveling out; you must partner with other regions and countries. That is the way and it is one inevitable, because you can’t live in isolation.
So it isn’t an offence for us to sponsor students there. The offence will be, not to carter for them and I know with the Renewed Agenda of President Ahmed Bola Tinubu, who has even put in place the Students Scholarship Loan in Nigeria, I am sure he will do something about this. All we are calling for and demanding is that those who are responsible, those who are saddled with the responsibility to be more proactive in it.