The Nigerian Ambassador to Russia with concurrent accreditation to Belarus met with the Executives of the Association of Nigerian Scholarship Students in Russia (ANSSIR) on 25th February 2022.
The Association of Nigerian Scholarship Students in Russia (ANSSIR) executives paid a courtesy visit to the Nigerian Embassy Moscow, Russia, to meet His Excellency, Ambassador Abdullah Y. Shehu. The visit was to introduce the newly elected executive committee to the Embassy, present the ANSSIR plans for the 2022 academic year to His Excellency, and provide a situation report on the Russia – Ukraine crisis and how it affects Nigerian scholars in Russia.
On behalf of the students, Gabriel Atser, the President of the Association, expressed the appreciation of the scholarship students in Russia to the Ambassador and the entire staff of the Nigerian Embassy for their support during the ANSSIR convention 2022 in Russia. He applauded the Mission for being there for the students during difficult times when stipends were delayed. The President informed the Ambassador about some key issues affecting scholarship students in Russia. A few of the issues discussed during the meeting were delayed payment of stipends, posting new students to far regions Russia, and some of the new arrivals’ poor academic performance.
The Ambassador in his response congratulated the newly elected executives of ANSSIR for their victory during the convention. He assured the students of Embassy’s readiness to protect the interest of all Nigerians in the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus. Ambassador Abdullahi Shehu spoke about the current crises in Ukraine and the need for all Nigerian students to continue to be law-abiding and focus on what brought them to Russia. He assured the students that, the Nigerian Embassy Moscow is monitoring the situation, and will dive into action, as soon as it is convinced that the safety of Nigerian students is threatened. On issues of delay in payment of stipends and posting of students to far cities of Russia, His Excellency promised to register the concerns of the students with the Federal Scholarship Board, Abuja.
The highlight of the meeting was the presentation of the award of Grand Patron of ANSSIR to His Excellency, Ambassador Abdullahi Shehu for his contributions to the wellbeing of scholarship students in Russia. Two other Officers of the Mission were also recognized as Pillars of ANSSIR.
