In response to Dubawa’s enquiry, Abu Dhabi University has reacted to a viral message calling on Nigerians to embrace scholarship offers from the school.
“Abu Dhabi University is not offering full scholarships for international students for any program”, Amit Sharma, Abu Dhabi University’s International Student Recruitment Manager replied Dubawa.
Dubawa had published a fact-check on July 1, 2021 which investigated a viral message that Abu Dhabi University, in the United Arab Emirates is offering fully-funded scholarships for students.
The message claimed that Abu Dhabi University, Dubai, was offering free tuition, living allowance, accommodation, as well as medical, travel and stationery allowances for Nigerians to study any course of their choice in 2021.
Dubawa’s verdict, after filling the fake application and checking the websites promoting the full scholarship claims, is that the information is false and misleading, and that Abu Dhabi University is not offering fully funded scholarships.
Mr. Sharma confirmed Dubawa’s position by stating in his email that the viral message is “FAKE information” and urged Nigerians not to “fall for it”.
Foreign education is highly valued in Nigeria, and it is also seen by many as avenues to migrate to more developed countries. Fraudsters are aware of the desire for foreign education (especially by those who cannot afford it) and they therefore create scholarship scams to prey on this desire. Dubawa has fact-checked such scams as it relates to general education and even Qur’anic/Islamic education.
Apart from full scholarship scams, fraudsters also sometimes publish disinformation claims about government institutions or philanthropists giving bursaries or grants to students and members of the public.
