“We Are Beggars Now!” Amnesty Students Lament Hunger, Delayed Payments At Federal University Otuoke, Others

by Passman Akpos

Students benefiting from the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) scholarship scheme have raised fresh concerns over prolonged delays in the payment of their allowances, with some reportedly abandoning their studies because of hunger, frustration and financial hardship.

Tarakirivoice monitors gathered from students and individuals familiar with the situation at the Federal University Otuoke, Bayelsa State, that some beneficiaries are struggling to meet basic daily needs despite being enrolled under a government-funded intervention programme designed to support their education.

One account described the situation as particularly disturbing, alleging that an Amnesty student had vowed not to return to school when academic activities resume in October because the prolonged delay in payment had transformed his circumstances from relative stability to desperation.

According to the account, the student had been encouraged to remain focused on his education despite the hardship.

«“This thing no dey easy ooo,” the source lamented, describing the situation confronting several students.»

The source further claimed that some parents and guardians, believing that PAP is financially supporting their children, have stopped providing adequate money for feeding and other daily necessities.

This, the source argued, has left some students stranded when their expected allowances fail to arrive.

“Amnesty students in Federal University of Otuoke are purely beggars now,” the source alleged, adding that some vulnerable students are sometimes invited to spend time with others simply to ensure they have something to eat.

The situation, according to the account, is even more difficult in institutions where students are not permitted to cook for themselves, leaving them dependent on money to purchase food.

‘Some Students Have Abandoned School’

Another serious allegation emerging from the monitoring is that some Amnesty beneficiaries may have already abandoned their studies because of hunger and frustration, without PAP officials being immediately aware of their withdrawal.

“Some Amnesty students have forsaken the scholarship. They’re no longer in school because of hunger and frustration, but the office is not even aware,” the source stated.

The development has triggered a wider debate over whether students should continue depending entirely on the programme’s intervention for their basic welfare.

One view expressed during the discussion was that parents and guardians should assume greater responsibility for feeding their children, even where students receive government scholarships or allowances.

However, others strongly rejected the suggestion that beneficiaries should simply accept hunger as part of the sacrifice required to obtain an education.

They argued that the real issue is not that students have received an opportunity, but that the support attached to that opportunity is reportedly not arriving when it is needed.

‘How Do You Explain This To A Young Person?’

One contributor pointed to the plight of young people who struggled before securing Amnesty placements.

“How do you explain to a young man who was doing brick-laying jobs to prepare himself for school and luckily got this Amnesty, yet after admission faces a complex situation of delayed scholarship allowance, when he or she has nobody to rely on?” the contributor asked.

The argument was that beneficiaries should not be condemned for considering alternatives when the system intended to support them becomes a source of prolonged hardship.

According to information provided to Tarakirivoice, some students deployed in September 2025 had reportedly received payments for only three months despite remaining in school for significantly longer.

The claim has raised questions over the sustainability of continued deployments if existing beneficiaries are allegedly still awaiting outstanding payments.

“Office deployed students September 2025 and up till now, they were paid only three months. And the office will still be deploying another thousands next month,” one source alleged.

Opportunity Or New Source Of Hardship?

The controversy has exposed a deeper question about the implementation of the Presidential Amnesty Programme’s educational intervention: Can a scholarship opportunity remain meaningful when the financial support attached to it is delayed for months?

Some contributors warned against discouraging young people from accepting Amnesty opportunities, describing the programme as a pathway that many young Nigerians desperately seek.

Others, however, argued that accepting an opportunity should not mean being subjected to avoidable hardship.

They said a beneficiary who eventually leaves the programme because of hunger should not automatically be labelled as someone who will regret the decision.

For them, leaving a system that has become unsustainable could potentially push a young person to seek alternative opportunities and return stronger.

‘I Cannot Encourage Anyone To Die Of Hunger’

The debate has ultimately produced a humanitarian dilemma.

While education advocates insist that beneficiaries should persevere and avoid abandoning their studies, others say survival cannot be ignored.

“I can’t encourage one to drop out of school. And at the same time I cannot also encourage one to die of hunger,” one contributor said.

The situation has also been compared with the wider paradox of the Niger Delta, where enormous natural resources have coexisted with poverty, unemployment, environmental degradation and underdevelopment.

Critics say the Amnesty educational scheme risks becoming another example of an intervention that offers hope on paper but can become a source of hardship when implementation does not match expectations.

Questions For PAP

The concerns emerging from Federal University Otuoke and potentially other institutions raise fundamental questions for the leadership of the Presidential Amnesty Programme under Chief Dennis Brutus Otuaro.

How many beneficiaries currently have outstanding allowances?

How many months are being processed at a time?

How many students have abandoned their education because of financial hardship?

Does PAP have a mechanism for identifying beneficiaries who stop attending school?

What measures are being taken to prevent hunger and financial distress from undermining the educational objectives of the programme?

And perhaps most importantly: Why should a programme established to empower young people become, in the words of some beneficiaries and observers, a source of anxiety, hunger and frustration?

Tarakirivoice’s monitoring indicates that the issue deserves urgent attention before more students are pushed out of classrooms—not necessarily because they lack ambition, but because they can no longer afford to remain there.

The Presidential Amnesty Programme has an opportunity to address the concerns transparently, clarify the status of outstanding payments and reassure beneficiaries that their educational future will not be compromised by administrative delays.