Diaspora commission chair warns that NDDC students are now destitute in the UK

NIGERIAN Diaspora Commission (NDC) chairman Hon Abike Dabiri-Erewa has made a passionate plea to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to pay the allowances of its students in the UK as many of them are now destitute.

Established by former president Chief Olusegun Obasanjo in 2000, the NDDC was tasked with both developing the Niger Delta and with enhancing manpower development. Under this plan, the commission sent thousands of students abroad to be trained, especially in marine-related disciplines like engineering and fisheries.

Britain is home to a lot of these students but with the current turmoil within the NDDC, the commission has failed to pay their tuition and monthly allowances. As a result, many of the students face the risk of being kicked out of school and to make matters worse, they are living like beggars as they have no money to maintain themselves.

Hon Dabiri-Erewa said some of the affected students had complained that they had been suspended by their schools over the non-payment of tuition and other fees. In a letter to the minister of Niger Delta Affairs Senator Godswill Akpabio, she drew the attention of the NDDC to the plight of the students and urging the agency to pay them.

“At the moment, there have been persistent calls by the students for urgent intervention. While the deadline for payment of the fees of some of the students has expired or about to expire, non-payment of their allowances has virtually turned many of them to beggars,” Hon Dabiri-Erewa added.