Nigerian students sue Alabama College for treating them ‘like animals’

When they got full scholarships to study abroad, Godsgift Moses, Promise Owei, Thankgod Harold, Success Jumbo, Savior Samuel and 36 other Nigerian nationals felt their dreams of a better education had finally come true.

The 41 Nigerian students enrolled in the Alabama State University had received a full scholarship through a government funded programme for a four year course and instead of getting the opportunity the government had enabled them have access to by way of the scholarship, they say the university took the millions of naira and used the money to discriminate against them.

Last week, these Nigerian nationals filed a lawsuit against the university alleging that the school had overcharged them for books, meals and enrolled them in classes that they never took. Majority of these nationals are alumni of the university.
Jimy Iwezu, an ASU alumni says they were called ‘’cash cows’’ and he felt the school had intentionally mismanaged the scholarship funding clearly not providing the students with the full terms and provisions of the funding.
The funds were not disbursed to the Nigerian students and former students but were rather used by the university towards expenses that were or were not related to the students. However, the school authorities insist that no agreement was signed between the university and the individual students.
Iwezu indicated that the school compelled them to buy books from the book store, eat at the cafeteria or live in the school dorms compulsorily even when they objected to it. Most college students are permitted to bargain shop for books and dine at different establishments beyond the school cafeteria.
Attorney Julian McPhillips, who is representing the Nigerian nationals in the case suggests that the school violated Title V1 civil rights. He further said that the students were not being treated like other students and the school continues to bill them enormously.
Nigerian geography professor at ASU for almost three decades,Dr David Iyegha utterly regrets facilitating the admission of some of the Nigerian nationals whom he had come down to Lagos to recruit in 2013.
He said that the government had paid for everything and the school was to provide the students with part of the funds for upkeep and sundry but the school had refused to remit any of the funds to the students in the last three years.
He said that when he had inquired from the authorities why the Nigerian nationals were being neglected, he had been informed that the funds had been exhausted.
In a May 2015 letter addressed to ASU’s president Dr. Gwendolyn Boyd, a special adviser to the former president Goodluck Jonathan named Kingsley Kuku blasted the college for its “discriminatory practices” and for breaching its fiduciary duties.
The dignitary empaneled a delegation to head to Montgomery to deal with the financial fracas and demanded that “all credit balances for tuition be carried over for each student and be used as initial deposit for the next semester fees” and that ASU refund “each student” for “all other line items.”
Following the university’s prolonged silence on the issue, the student’s attorney McPhillips demanded the school proceed to refund all expenses that were not used by the students. One of the students, Success Jumbo for instance had married and lived off the campus and was entitled to a refund of the dormitory fees that had been paid alongside his tuition. Another alumni, Kehinde Batife was charged for a summer school he never attended; something he learnt about after his graduation.
In a terse response two months later, Kenneth Thomas, ASU’s general counsel, wrote back stating that the oral agreement between Nigeria and ASU supersedes McPhillips’s clients’ claims. “There is no financial agreement between the University and the individual Nigerian students,” Thomas wrote.
That meant the Nigerians’ gripes were frivolous and that if there were any refunds to be had, they would “inure to the Nigerian Government and not to the individual students.”

The students had rallied around and sourced for help from neighbouring universities to arm themselves with knowledge to help their case.
Batife remains irate and says he is willing to fight ASU till the end to see that justice prevails. For Iwezu, victory would be for the university to pay restitution that can then bankroll future Nigerian students higher education in the US. What he desires the most is that life is made better for other youngster back home in Nigeria and justice means that the excess monies are refunded to make this happen.