Educational Cooperation

Education has been one of the major areas of collaboration between Nigeria and Russia, since the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two (2) countries in 1960. Thousands of Nigerian students, have over the years studied in Russian universities in various fields of specialization, ranging from general Medicine, Aeronautic Engineering, Chemical Technology, Economics, Oil and gas, Nuclear Physics, Mechatronics, Robotics and Nanotechnology, among others. Many of them had gone to achieve great things in Nigeria and other climes, contributing positively, to Nigeria’s labour force.  The Russia-Nigeria Bilateral Education Agreement (BEA), jointly operated by the Russian Ministry of Education and its Nigerian counterpart, through the Federal Scholarship Board (FSB), is the foremost driver of educational cooperation between the two countries, through which Russia grants scholarship to about 100 Nigerian students, annually.

There are currently, over 2,500 Nigerian students studying across the many universities in Russia, particularly in cities like Moscow, St Petersburg, Kazan, Belgorod, Rostov, Voronezh, Kursk and Samara. The Nigerian student population comprises over 500 students studying under the BEA and the Open-door Scholarship Scheme offered by the Russian government, while the others are either privately-sponsored or sponsored by their respective state governments in Nigeria