The 350 Rivers students withdrawn from universities abroad are not happy with the government. They have described their transfer from well-equipped universities in the United Kingdom, Canada, among other countries to higher institutions at home as unfortunate and painful.
Some of them are stranded because Nigerian universities do not offer their courses. They wondered why it was in their time that the government discontinued foreign scholarship.
The scholarship was initiated by former Governor Rotimi Amaechi. Some beneficiaries have completed their degrees, and even done their masters or Ph.D, or started working abroad.
But, those who got their scholarship a year or two before the expiration of Amaechi’s tenure were not so lucky. Governor Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, who succeeded Amaechi, discontinued the scholarship, citing economic challenges for his action.
He directed that the students return home to continue their studies. His administration, he said, would not abandon the students but would offer them opportunity to study in any university of their choice. The governor said his administration, had settled the school fees of students in their final year.