23-5-2025
Kano State governor Abba Kabir Yusuf said his administration has paid ₦2.24 billion to clear the outstanding tuition and accommodation fees of 84 students who have been stranded in Cyprus for five years.
The students who are of Kano State origin have been locked out of their lectures, denied their certificates and other benefits because of the outstanding fees. But speaking Friday in a statement governor Yusuf’s media and publicity director-general Sunusi Bature Dawakin Tofa, the State Government has cleared the outstanding fees owed to Near East University in Cyprus.
He said the students were beneficiaries of a foreign scholarship programme initiated by former Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, but the scheme was abandoned by his successor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje halted the funding.
“The move not only disrupted the students’ education but also subjected them to severe financial and emotional trauma, with some facing legal threats from their host institution at Near East University in Cyprus.
“For years, the students endured untold suffering: locked out of classrooms, evicted from accommodations, and ridiculed abroad as they battled to survive in a foreign land without support.
“A total of two billion, two hundred and forty million naira has been paid to secure the certificates of the students who have waited for over five years,” the statement said.
Among the rescued students are 28 medical graduates, along with others in nursing, dentistry, engineering, computer science, pharmacy, and biomedical sciences. While many had completed their studies years ago, they were unable to graduate formally due to unpaid fees.