By Mustapha Usman, Kano
Ninety eight undergraduate students from five universities sponsored to study Pharmacy and Medicine in India by the Kano State government have written to Governor Abdullahi Ganduje over nine-month unpaid allowances.
In a letter sent to DAILY NIGERIAN on Tuesday, the students said only three months’ allowances (January-March) were paid to them throughout 2016.
They said the situation had subjected them to untold hardship, adding that they had become stranded in the country as they hardly feed themselves.
The letter reads in part, “We are 98 undergraduate students from 5 universities studying Pharmacy and Medicine in India. Our unremitting scholarship upkeep allowances hits 9 months, meaning that only 3 months allowance (January- Match) was paid throughout 2016.
“Only the almighty God knows exactly how we are suffering. We have been stranded and humiliated in foreign land. We are finding it difficult to feed ourselves on daily basis because we are sons and daughters of the masses of Kano State.
“An urgent attention from Kano State government is highly needed and we hope our problems will be alleviated once it reaches to the notice of His Excellency Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje. May Almighty Allah help the government to pay our regular and backlog of allowances, so that we could have our minds and attentions paid to our studies rather than on how to obtain our next meal.
“This will in turn help us to have a successful completion of our studies and contribute to both educational and health sectors of our dear state,” the students wrote.
Contacted, the spokesman of Kano State Scholarship Board, Lawal Fagge, said government was aware of the situation and they were making efforts to solve the problem.
According to him, the executive secretary of the board, Fatima Umar, had travelled to “some countries” to listen to students’ problems and submit report to the governor for further action.
“The government has accorded an utmost attention to these students. But I can not say much on this matter because I am new here. But all I know is that the executive secretary’s trip is on the issues of the students. However, you can come back when she return and get more information,” the spokesman added.
