Nearly 200 students from Jigawa State who fled to India and Cyprus from the civil war in Sudan to pursue degrees in medical science have begun to graduate with honors.
Saidu Magaji, the Executive Secretary of the Jigawa State Scholarship Board, made the announcement while welcoming back six of the ten students who had studied in India due to civil unrest in Sudan. Of these, four had earned a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing with a first class honors, and six of the ten had graduated.
He said that the Jigawa administration took the initiative to remove 195 students from Sudan during the height of the conflict.
Their smooth return to Nigeria was guaranteed by the government after the arduous procedures of their removal from Sudan.
They were still reeling from the horror of their escape from Sudan, so even in Nigeria, the administration determined they shouldn’t be bused to Jigawa upon their arrival in Abuja.
“Therefore, we arranged for a plane to whisk them away to Jigawa Airport, and we even paid for their transportation back to their houses.”
According to the Secretary, the Scholarship Board was instructed to ensure that the students were admitted in accordance with the 12-point Human Agenda of the Umar Namadi administration.
That led to 185 of them getting into Near East University in Cyprus, and they were all given N4.5 million to cover things like living allowances, health insurance, and residence permits.
Four out of 10 students sent to India’s Integral University are still enrolled there, the Executive Secretary said; three are pursuing degrees in doctor of pharmacy science, and one is majoring in civil engineering.
The six students who returned to Nigeria from their studies include two men who earned degrees in industrial chemistry and four women who earned first-class degrees in bachelor’s degree programs in nursing and related fields.
Living allowances, tuition, residence permits, and other financial necessities have already been authorized with a sum of N4 billion.
In addition to the 185 students in Cyprus, we have also formed a link with the students who will be serving in Jigawa for an extended period of time.
After enduring the hardships in Sudan, Aisha Muhammad and her fellow graduates of the Bachelor of Nursing Sciences program are “ready to serve my state like never before,” as she joyfully declared while receiving her diploma.
According to Abdullahi Isa, a graduate of the Industrial Chemistry program, studying in India was fantastic because everyone was so welcoming and nothing bad happened during their time there.
Recalling their ordeal crossing the Sudanese border, he said that they would have given up hope of finishing their education had the authorities of Jigawa State not intervened quickly. Some of them even got first-class degrees! Today, they are celebrating their graduation.