Sokoto Scholarship board debunks media propaganda on Yahaya
The Sokoto State Government has debunked insinuations on how Usman Yahaya was detained by the Russian authorities.
According to a Press statement signed by Alhaji Bello Isa, Permanent Secretary
Sokoto State Scholarship Board, the Sokoto authorities lamented how untrue the reports from some media outlets on Yahaya.
The statement titled Yahaya has never been detained by Russian Immigration, not stranded, revealed that Sokoto Government has met all financial obligations of its students including Yahaya.
Recall that Yahaya a medical student became famous after sending a save my soul message on the possible discontinuation his programme owing to funding.
The press statement obtained by Periscope Nigeria partly read, “Our attention has been drawn to media reports in the PRNigeria, Daily Trust, The Nation and several other online media platforms on June 16, 2022 that a founder of Maryam Abacha American University, one Prof. Adamu Abubakar Gwarzo donated N1 million to Yahaya Usman YZ, a sponsored Sokoto state student who is with the Irkutsk State Medical University (ISMU) in Russia. The report claimed that Yahaya is stranded and under the mercy of Russian immigration after his suspension by the university and evicted from the campus hostel.
“PRNigeria specifically quoted Prof Gwarzo as saying, “The future of Usman Yahaya is at stake. We have to do something to ensure that his education is not only affected, but that he is also not detained by Russian authorities, eventually. The 1 million naira I gave through the intervention of ANSE and other expected donations from philanthropic Nigerians will go a long way to rescue Yahaya.”
“We wish to state categorically and for the information of the general public that indeed, Yahaya who is an indigene of Sokoto state and initially sponsored by Sokoto State Scholarship Board to study Medicine at NAHDA College in Sudan. He personally requested to transfer his studies to Irkutsk State Medical University (ISMU) Russia.
“We state also ever since he was in Sudan and after his transfer to Russia, at no time did the Scholarship Board fail to pay his bursary or any of his entitlements.
“Although Yahaya has spent eight years (2014 to date), enjoying scholarship of Sokoto State government even when his sponsorship was supposed to officially terminate by 2019, on the directives of the State Governor, His Excellency, Rt Honourable Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, the Scholarship Board has continued to pay his bursaries, including medical bills. Even last year when he claimed to have been detained by Russian immigration, the governor approved the settlement of all the bills, including a return ticket back to Nigeria to sort out some of his personal issues, but he refused to return.
“Two weeks ago, the Board’s attention was drawn to media publications about Yahaya’s claim that he was detained by Russian immigration as a result of non-payment of his tuition and upkeep allowances. But records at Sokoto State Ministry of Finance show that Yahaya’s 2021/2022 tuition and upkeep allowance were already paid through his personal account.”
Commenting further the board revealed that Yahaya has always received support through the approval of the governor, stressing that he has never been detained by Russian authorities.
“We therefore wish to inform the public that Yahaya is not and has never been detained by Russian immigration as he has deceived some reputable media organisations in believing. We also wish to state that the Sokoto State Scholarship Board and by extension the Sokoto State Government, does not owe Yahaya any entitlement. He has duly been paid all that is entitled to him.
“Finally, while we are not against individuals or corporate organisations assisting Yahaya, such assistance should not be under the premise that his tuition and upkeep allowance have not been paid by Sokoto state government,” the Permanent Secretary added.
Revealing how they found out that Yahaya was not detained, he noted how Sokoto state Scholarship Board wrote to Irkutsk State Medical University (ISMU) to confirm Yahaya’s true condition.
Isa said, “First of all I was glad to talk to you on the phone on Friday. Sorry for the late response due to our efforts to understand the situation around our student Usman YZ Yahaya. We came to know that in Nigerian media there appeared an article stating that the above mentioned student is arrested and detained in prison due to a tuition fee debt. I would like to assure you that this is a fake information which doesn’t correspond reality in any of the mentioned details.
“Mr. Usman is a 5th year student of General Medicine Faculty, safe and sound, attending classes and living freely without any pressure from the part of the university, he indeed has a debt for paying the current semester fee but due to the sanctions upon our country’s bank system the university gives time to the students to solve the question with money transfer. Moreover, migration service being part of the Ministry of Internal Affaires of Russian Federation does not detain foreign students.
“We would be glad to give you more details about this student but according to the rules we can do it only upon your official request letter (on the letterhead of your organization with the signature of the person incharge) in the name of the Rector of our university Prof. Igor Malov or Vice-rector for international relations Dr. Tamara Krupskaya. Such mode of exchange of information between our institutions will let us avoid fakes.
“Here, I would like to give you some general information about our university fee structure for your reference. The tuition fee for the 5th year English Medium students is 250 000 rubles per year, 1 semester tuition fee is 125 000 rubles which is around 2000 dollars according to the current rate. Accommodation fee is around 20 000 rubles per year ($320), state fee for visa extension is 1600 rubles ($26), medical insurance policy is 11850 rubles ($194), all paid once a year. These are all the compulsory expenses for a 5th year student of our university.”
