“Every year, we receive an inquiry about the authenticity of a scholarship opportunity on the website, and I have to clarify that this is fake news.”
Nigeria’s Ministry of Education says its website was hacked to upload statements branding a controversial Russian recruitment programme, Alabuga Start Programme, as a credible scholarship opportunity for young Nigerians.
The ministry’s Federal Scholarship Board director, Ndajiwo Asta, said statements uploaded to the website in 2022 and 2023 were posted by fraudsters who sought to use the ministry’s name to legitimise the controversial programme.
“We didn’t place it. Someone once showed me the letter on the website, which was posted in 2022. Since 2022, why has it not expired? This is the AI age; anybody can just draft a letter and upload it online. That is the case here. You should know this,” she told PREMIUM TIMES.
“Every year, we receive an inquiry about the authenticity of a scholarship opportunity on the website, and I have to clarify that this is fake news,” she said. “This has been happening since the administration of Adamu Adamu, the former Minister of Education.”
The Alabuga Start Programme is a Russian state-backed initiative that offers young women fully funded scholarship opportunities for a period of two years.
Launched in 2022, the programme is run by the Alabuga Special Economic Zone, an industrial institution located in Tatarstan, Russia, and typically targets young women aged 18-22 from developing countries.
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However, there have been reports that some of the young women recruited for the programme go on to manufacture drones in a military-industrial compound located approximately 1,000 km east of Moscow, known as Alabuga.
A six-month investigation by a ZAM team in seven African countries, including PREMIUM TIMES in Nigeria, has revealed that the recruitment is done in a shady manner, based on false information and fake promises.
The recruits, promised good salaries and skills training, often find themselves trapped upon arrival.
PREMIUM TIMES’ investigation showed a shoddy and illegal channel used to recruit young women from Nigeria, many of whom are eager to be selected due to promises sold to them.
Through email exchanges, interactions with the assigned HR specialist, conversations with Nigerian applicants, and other sources, PREMIUM TIMES found several questionable practices and those that violate the country’s laws on recruitment by foreign companies.
Ministry not involved
Alabuga Start is presented as both an employment opportunity and a fully funded scholarship. It covers the total travel expenses, accommodation, and feeding for the duration of the programme.
The programme simultaneously offers vocational training and jobs in logistics, production operations, catering and food service, hospitality and service roles, driving, as well as installation and tiling work, specifically to girls with no prior work experience. It offers a salary ranging from $500 to $700 per month.
According to Ms Asta, Nigeria has established bilateral relations with Russia, as outlined in the Russia-Nigeria Bilateral Education Agreement (BEA), which has enabled thousands of Nigerians to study in Russia in various fields of specialisation over the years.
The approved programme is administered by the Russian Ministry of Education and its Nigerian counterpart, through the Federal Scholarship Board (FSB).
Each year, the Russian government grants scholarships to about 100 Nigerian students.
The Nigerian embassy in Russia stated that there are more than 2,500 Nigerian students currently enrolled in universities across Russia, particularly in cities such as Moscow, St Petersburg, Kazan, Belgorod, Rostov, Voronezh, Kursk, and Samara.
However, Alabuga is not one of the institutions covered by the bilateral ties.
When asked about this, Ms Asta stated that neither the FBS nor the Ministry of Education could have endorsed the Alabuga Start programme, as it was not on the list of universities covered by the BEA.
“Even if we posted it a year or two ago, should it not have closed by now. Where have you seen an opportunity without a deadline? It doesn’t close. That alone should be a red flag,” she said, referring to the programme’s rolling application.
Alabuga Start has no application window. PREMIUM TIMES reported that in some cases, ongoing applications can last up to a year.
“We don’t have any Nigerian who has travelled to Russia through the BEA for vocational training. We don’t have vocational training. Any Nigerians who are a part of the programme went on their own,” the Nigerian official added.
Why education ministry should take down post
Despite describing the programme as fraudulent, Ms Asta did not seem convinced there was a need for the ministry and the board to denounce the programme publicly. The advertisement was still on the ministry’s website as of Monday.
Asked if the board would be actively taking any step to stop the use of the ministry’s site to authenticate the programme, the board director said, “What else is there to do. We have nothing to do with it, like I told you. We didn’t place it there.”
“But why are you focusing on an old issue?” Ms Asta said to our reporter.
“We are in 2025, and you want to be dragging us back to 3-4 years ago. The world is evolving. We should look forward to what is happening. Let us join the world in focusing on AI. Not going back to look for old stories. It was in 2022. Does it not expire? Let’s look forward, please,” she said.
However, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), a body focused on regulating Nigeria’s digital ecosystem, declared that the ministry is obligated to take down information about Alabuga Start from its website.
“They should bring down the post already. What are they doing? They should bring it down. It is their responsibility,” Hadeeza Umar, the agency’s spokesperson, told PREMIUM TIMES during a phone interview.
Ms Umar identified that the ministry is also obligated to maintain and protect its websites from any foreign encroachment.
“This is what they are supposed to do,” she said. “They created their website. They developed it, and so, they have to secure it.”
An education analyst, Oriyomi Ogunwale, identified that the recent findings have shown that information provided on the website of the ministry and scholarship board cannot be trusted.
Mr Ogunwale, co-founder of an education-focused civic technology organisation, EduPlana, said, “One way to get or verify information about the ministry is by checking the website.
“When information is shared on the site, students or even anyone would assume it is credible. But this is turning out to be untrue.”
Mr Oriyomi further noted that the vulnerability of the websites to fraudulent schemes, as claimed by the FBS director, was the result of the inistry’s neglect of its ICT unit.
“This is a pattern, and I believe this challenge is more structural,” Mr Oriyomi said. “One thing highlighted by this story is the lack of attention to the ICT itself.”
Similarly, Yomi Fawehinmi, an education and Human Resources specialist, said that such publications also authenticate questionable opportunities, misleading Nigerians, many of whom are already induced to travel abroad.
Unlicensed recruitment agencies
PREMIUM TIMES findings also showed that the recruitment process is carried out primarily on Telegram, through an HR specialist from Alabuga in Russia. However, we also gathered that Alabuga Start has accredited unlicensed recruitment agencies in Nigeria to recruit young women.
Some of them, with substantial social media followings, use frequent social media posts to increase the reach and demand for the programme.
Our reporter spoke to some of the recruitment agencies, who confirmed that Alabuga contracted them to recruit women from Nigeria.
One of the recruiters, Adeleke Olowatobi, disclosed that the programme has a network of agencies accredited to recruit on its behalf. Mr Adeleke works for Alabuga through his travel agency, Mercy of Success Konsultancy.
Another recruiter, Cynthia Orah, also told PREMIUM TIME that her agency, Topklass Erasco Travels and Tours, was accredited to recruit young women on behalf of Alabuga.
In conversations with PREMIUM TIMES, Mr Adeleke identified that accredited agencies are made to sign a memorandum of understanding with the programme. He also shared with PREMIUM TIMES a video recording of the MOU he signed with Alabuga.
The 3-page document, titled “Memorandum of Understanding between the Special Economic Zone of an Industrial and Production Type “Alabuga” and MOS Konsultant.”
The document stated that the agreement was drafted to develop and strengthen cooperation between “parties in the field of employment in Nigeria under the programme Alabuga Start.”
Another part of the document indicated that the recruiter is obligated to assist with the arrival of applicants to the Alabuga Special Economic Zone in Russia from Nigeria.
It identified that the recruiter is mandated to “disseminate information about the AS programme to potential participants.”
They also “provide support in establishing contacts with other structures or organisations that may be interested in helping to disseminate information about the AS programme.”
Another part of the document indicated that the agency is expected to “send participants of the Alabuga Start programme to medical centers approved by the Embassy of the Russian Federation to undergo medical examination and obtain confirmation that the applicants” do not have any chronic disease.
Although accredited by the institution, neither Topklass nor Mercy of Success Consultancy is licensed by the Nigerian government to recruit from Nigeria for foreign entities.
According to the Nigerian Labour Act, an agency must be licensed by the Ministry of Labour and Employment before it can legally operate as a recruitment or placement firm for foreign entities.
Section 25 of the act states that the labour minister “licences fit and proper persons to recruit citizens in Nigeria for the purpose of employment as workers outside Nigeria; or employment as workers in Nigeria. Provided that any person who has been granted a licence to recruit citizens for employment outside Nigeria may also be granted a licence to recruit citizens for employment inside Nigeria.”
No government agency could provide the number of Nigerians who have been part of the Alabuga process.
When PREMIUM TIMES reached out to the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) to ask if it has a record of Nigerians participating in the programme, we were directed to reach out to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The spokesperson of the Foreign Affairs Ministry, Kimiebi Ebienfa, however, did not respond to the inquiry when contacted.
PREMIUM TIMES also reached out to the Russian Embassy in Nigeria for records of Nigerians in the programme, and details of their welfare.
During our meeting with the ambassador, Andrey Podelyshev, he stated that he could not comment on the welfare of participants in the programme because the embassy does not have this information.
According to him, the embassy does not have any relationship with Alabuga and knows little about the programme. He, however, said that participants were not recruited to assemble military drones as the country’s legislation prohibited this.
“No foreigners can work in a military plant. Russian legislation prohibits this. For anyone to work in the plant, they must obtain clearance from the security agency.”
When asked about the number of Nigerians currently enrolled in the programme, the Russian ambassador said he did not know.
