No fewer than 93 Zamfara students who are on scholarships at Cyprus International University are currently stranded over unpaid tuition, accommodation, feeding allowances, and improper documentation.

The Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Zamfara State, Wadatau Madawaki, made the disclosure while speaking with Journalists in Abuja. While assuring that Governor Dauda Lawal is taking every possible step to repay all the outstanding debts, Madawaki blamed the previous government of Bello Matawalle, who is now the current Minister of State for Defence, for their plight.

This concerns come two days after the Zamfara Chairman of the National Youth Council of Nigeria, Nurudeen Salisu, voiced a similar concern over the disheartening situation the students in Cyprus are facing. The Commissioner lamented that the young scholars embarked on an academic journey to acquire knowledge vital to the future of the state but regrettably found themselves caught in a quagmire of humiliation and academic disruption.

He said the school authorities presented a debt of outstanding fees, including tuition being owed by the government, even when they were aware the students had been dropped from attending lectures for almost a year. The students according to him, were simply left at the ‘mercy’ of the university authorities by unpatriotic elements who cashed in on the poor arrangement to make fast money.