Scholars are urging the protection of the rights of Nigerians living abroad following news of potential deportations facing Nigerian students at Teesside University in the UK due to non-payment of fees.
On May 22, 2024, a BBC report highlighted that Nigerian students at Teesside University were demonstrating against the institution, protesting the threat of deportation. These students, carrying placards, were among many Nigerian students in the UK facing similar issues.
Prof. Babafemi Badejo of Chrisland University, Ogun State, emphasized that this problem is not isolated to Teesside University. He noted that many UK universities, which had greatly benefited from the influx of Nigerian students during the height of the “japa” phenomenon, are now reporting students to the British Home Office for deportation over unpaid fees.
Badejo pointed out that Nigerian students have historically not been habitual tuition debt defaulters, criticizing the harsh measures being taken by the universities.
He added, “However, Nigerian students fell on bad times after the unparalleled devaluation of the Nigerian currency by about 300 per cent as the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration began in Nigeria about a year ago. The naira values respective students had stashed up from sales of personal or family properties or parental earnings could no longer meet the needs of external obligations for the payment of tuition fees.”
Head of Department, Mass Communication, University of Lagos, Prof. Poju Tejumaiye, lamented that the action of British Institutions showed that they were more concerned about money from foreign students.
“While I agree that our economy is not doing well, it should not be used as a precondition to send the students out. What happened to work-study? What happened to scholarships. Albeit, it clearly showed that British institutions depend more on money from foreign students than looking inward on how to generate money. This no doubt is a lazy or defeatist approach to education,” Tejumaiye said.
