The first set of Nigerian students, including eight awardees who had recently only traveled to China on scholarship under the federal government’s Bilateral Education Agreement, BEA, are now stuck in various hotels in Guangzhou and several other locations across the East Asian country, as a result of the unpaid COVID-19 quarantine fees.
The hotel authorities where the students were first quarantined before traveling to their schools’ provinces have already threatened them with eviction if they did not make payments to them at the end of their quarantine period.
If the students fail to make the payments, they stand the risk of being denied Green Codes, which are given to confirm that the quarantine has been successful. It also permits them to travel to their school destinations.
Some of the students have stated that their upkeep allowances have already been exhausted on the payment of their fees, which were not stated in their scholarship letters, others still revealed that their parents and relatives had been selling properties back home, to send them money.
In reaction to the recent development, the Director of the Federal Scholarship Board, Mrs. Asta Ndajiwo, had told Daily Trust that she could only respond to a text message that was sent to her only if an official letter was written through the Federal Ministry of Education.
