According to Head of Visa Section of the British High Commission, Mr. Jason Ivory, a total of 10,090, out of the 28,500 Nigerian students, who applied for visas to study in the United Kingdom were successful last year. Fortunately, with a refusal rate of 65 percent, only 35 per cent of those who sought to study in the United Kingdom were granted visa. The most striking result to emerge from the data is that I think Nigerians are statistic-blind. At an average the money a typical student spend per year in UK is £25000, multiply this by 10,090 student granted visa in 2008 by N220 and we approximately get N55billion naira! This is more than the Budget of my state. To add salt to injury, the UK Border Agency (UKBA) has published their final Policy Guidance for students of the new immigration Points Based System, which was introduced on 31 March 2009. Hence, from the end of March 2009, students requiring initial student entry clearance (visa) from Nigeria for studies in the United Kingdom will be required to show that they have the full first year’s fees plus maintenance funds for the first 9 months of study plus up to 9 months of funding for each dependant. This means the total required for a single student will be about £7200. Officially, no fewer than 10, 000 Nigerians are currently studying in the UK, making the country the third highest, after China with 16,000 and India with 18,000 students in UK universities. None of these differences might sound statistically significant, but a simple arithmetic might be surprising. A typical student spends about £25000 per year in UK (Source: I am a student), multiply this by the 10,000 Nigerians currently studying in the UK, and we approximately get £250,000,000! That is about N51 Billion Naira.

Adding the later N51billion naira for the 10,000 Nigerians currently studying in the UK and the earlier N55billion naira for the new 10,090 student granted visa in 2008, and that will total over N106 BILLION Naira- in just one year! While, in the latest ranking of world universities, no Nigerian university made the list of the first 10,000 in the world. Is this money not enough to transform some universities in Nigeria into a world class standard? This money is about 3% of the Federal Government proposed budget for its services in 2009. Meanwhile it’s more painful and a shame that no any Nigeria University also make the first top 30 Universities in Africa, and yet we claim we’re the giant of Africa. I really do pity our Great dim-witted nation Nigeria, if countries like Kenya ,Tanzania and even Reunion Island can make the first top 30 university in Africa, then I wonder if our great grandchildren will ever have a future. I was in church this morning, and when the pastor said: "Whoever has in his hand, to him shall be given; and whoever does not have, from him shall be taken even the little that he has"...I now believe he was summarising Nigeria’s problem. Just imagine or what else can I say? Even, the likes of OAU, UI and ABU are all living in past glories.

Contrary to expectations, one had expected at least “indicators” of reform to come to one or two university, considering that President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua and Vice President Goodluck Jonathan were once university lecturers before joining politics. Not even a trivial difference, rather worsening situation. Meanwhile, the British, according to Head of Visa Section of the British High Commission, Mr. Jason Ivory, have continue to organised series of public campaigns in Nigeria, tutoring prospective candidates how to study in UK, and of course pay school fees promptly. I have no doubt that Nigeria still love and cherish our allegiance to the British Crown, and of course the Commonwealth of Nations and they will always smile to the bank, saying "com on wealth, come to us- always”

Solution

1) My friend, Bob, once remark that some Nigerian graduates of today can’t construct a meaningful English sentence, while we might not all wont to be Wole Soyinka, the Government should infuse funds into the education sector, especially investment in technical training.

2) University ICT Board should be created to monitor and ensure qualitative website for all higher institution. Over 90% of all university in Nigeria does not have a functional website; talk less of an interactive website. Some universities have not even heard of E-commerce website, whereas, most ranking done by international bodies are most based on a University’s website content.

3) Just like asset declaration by politicians, let them also declare education-of- dependents, we know people send their kids abroad to get good education and care less about the average Nigerian student who couldn't afford to do this.

4) Let initiate a Public-Private-Partnership to build from scratches just one university, seriously and fully funded, and promoted world-wide. If it could make the top 3 university in Africa, then majority of the scrambling for UK for education will reduce. This might even promote education exchange with Europe; Nigerians have good brain, just bad universities.

5) The major challenge for Nigeria is to design an educational system that will be stable by developing a practical and workable funding formula for education. This will end the problem of education in Nigeria.

Rowland Adewumi

http://www.rowland-adewumi.com

Robot  # 1 | 12.03.2009 23:32

To add salt to injury, the UK Border Agency (UKBA) has published their final Policy Guidance for students of the new immigration Points Based System, which was introduced on 31 March 2009. Hence, from the end of March 2009, students requiring initial student entry clearance (visa) from Nigeria for studies in the United Kingdom will be required to show that they have the full first year’s fees plus maintenance funds for the first 9 months of study plus up to 9 months of funding for each dependant. This means the total required for a single student will be about £7200. Officially, no fewer than 10, 000 Nigerians are currently studying in the UK, making the country the third highest, after China with 16,000 and India with 18,000 students in UK universities. None of these differences might sound statistically significant, but a simple arithmetic might be surprising. A typical student spends about £25000 per year in UK (Source: I am a student), multiply this by the 10,00...Read the full article.

Dapxin  # 2 | 13.03.2009 07:52

It was once said last year, I think on newsnight BBC, that the average kashi that is raised from international students in the UK is a whooping £12B. then, I imagined, how big Nigeria's cut must be. Thank you for the statistical numbers you crunched in your article. But, I dont know/see how this namespace Nigeria is ever to recover - there are oo many faultlines; I think peddling the notion that deadi b00di president Mr. Yaradua was an ex-lecturer, ex-that,ex-this,was one of the typical murderer Obasajo frauds - yet unaudited - of the so called 2007 elections. I dont see how most of bought into the trick. You canT freaking expect a mind, capable of accepting such a position, knowing full well he 's gonna have to spend 90% of his time in incubators for the treatment of -what-his-syndrome again to grasp, let alone address the deep deep down nature of our educational abyss. Thats not to mention him being perpetually, under the lockdown of fantastic sons-of-guns - Ibori, Fayose, constitution 001 Andooaka etc. On the part of the universities, lets just say, as my grandma used to put it ohun-buruku-ti-n bi-buruku-->, the bad egg has already given birth to their new-generation, and the land is surely full of **insert word here** Seriously, the generation of handouts-for-materials + sex-for-marks students that were produced over the last 10-15years are basically the Profs and Grad Assistants now in Top Nigerian university. Lets not even go near the NUC. The prognosis, Diagnosis, gbogbo-e-nosis is dire. But somehow we find a way to live it all - that is the one I cant deconstruct. Its a long long way home for 9ija.

Law Mefor  # 3 | 13.03.2009 10:46

He who does not have, even the little he has will be taken away from him and given to he who has and he will have more! Wasn't this how Christ foresaw these capital contributions Nigeria and other poor countries are making for the upkeep of their colonial masters?

No Smoking  # 4 | 13.03.2009 11:23

Not surprising at all, as I've often repeated on this board. Nigeria went for "mass-transit" education, allowing every agbero to grab a pali. Nero Africanus, oya, make we hia yer campaign for more of dem chicken-shed universities... :wink:

aguabata  # 5 | 13.03.2009 14:46

Apart from the entertaining figures, this article is hollow. Why should any sane person expect education in Nigeria to be different from everything around it. The country has collapsed cant you people simply get it. However your number crunching is quite inaccurate, most nigerian students work through out their studies, part of the £25000 annual sustenance cost are generated in the UK for this group of students, infact the £25000 figure is a bit stretched. Its funny that Nigerian graduates whom many people unsympathetically ridicule are able to gain admission into world class universities up till today

No Smoking  # 6 | 13.03.2009 16:57

=aguabata;336696> ......Why should any sane person expect education in Nigeria to be different from everything around it. The country has collapsed cant you people simply get it. ..... Its funny that Nigerian graduates whom many people unsympathetically ridicule are able to gain admission into world class universities up till today The failed educational system is not only due to the myopic leaders, but also had the contribution of "money-miss-road" parents and their poorly-brought-up children. Despite the rut, there are no doubt students with the brains to make any nation proud. The West is always on the lookout to snap-up such brilliant gems.

Lapalapa  # 7 | 13.03.2009 22:14

I was really surprised to hear that 10000 Nigerians are able to afford such a criminal amount of money to send their kids to school in the UK every year. I surrender; I don't think I can ever understand that country!

izonboy  # 8 | 14.03.2009 04:40

Let us not forget that everybody has a role in shaping the education system that a country has. Governments, parents and guardians, lecturers and university administrators as well as the students themselves. But most importantly society as a whole unit has a very important part in this business. One of the problems we have now is that our society is so money conscious that no one really cares about the quality of education a person has, just so long as he makes money. In the haste to make money, standards drop because lecturers want to make money beyond their salaries, students want to make money and maybe buy scores, parents just want children to graduate and make money. If we must reverse the trend, we need a fundamental change of values. Until then, even secondary schools in some countries will continue to be better than our best universities.