Shocking 85% of Nigerian scholarship students vanish abroad — Minister laments

The Education Minister, Tunji Alausa, has dropped a bombshell revelation, saying a staggering 85% of Nigerian students sent overseas on government scholarships never return to contribute to the nation’s growth.

The eye-opening confession came amid major policy shakeups aimed at saving Nigeria’s struggling education sector.

Speaking at a high-stakes government meeting in Lagos, Alausa slammed the current scholarship system as a “national drain” and vowed to redirect millions of naira into building local capacity instead.

“Our data shows that most foreign-funded students are fleeing our shores for good, abandoning Nigeria’s future to foreign lands,” he declared.

“Many courses they pursue abroad could be done right here at home,” he added.

In a bold crackdown, the Minister announced new rules for funding Nigeria’s universities, saying any institution with fewer than 2,000 students after five years would be cut off from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).

He said the move targets ghost campuses and wasteful spending that have long plagued the system.

Alausa revealed shocking inequalities, saying tiny polytechnics with less than 600 students receive the same funds as giant universities boasting 18,000 enrollees — an “unsustainable and unfair” practice draining public resources.

To fix the mess, he said the government has launched 28 Centres of Excellence nationwide, promising cutting-edge postgraduate training, job creation, and research innovation — all in a bid to reverse brain drain and boost homegrown talent.

TETFund’s Executive Secretary Sonny Echono warned that underperforming schools risk being booted out of funding if they fail to meet enrollment and performance benchmarks.

“No more free rides. We’re moving towards performance-driven, sustainable funding,” he said.