Nigerian students applying for admission to foreign universities expended a total of $340.84 million to support their applications from January to June 2023, according to data analysis by The PUNCH.
This figure is based on data from the Central Bank of Nigeria, specifically related to the amount spent on educational services under the sectoral utilization for transactions eligible for foreign exchange.
The Central Bank reported that in April 2023, there was a total expenditure of $40.54 million on foreign education, and in May 2023, this amount increased to $48.81 million. However, in June 2023, there was a noticeable decrease, with the bank reporting an expenditure of $32.61 million.
When comparing this expenditure with the $218.88 million recorded in the first quarter of 2023, there is a decrease of $96.92 million or 44.28 percent.
Additionally, the first quarter of 2023 performed poorly when compared to figures from the second quarter of 2022, indicating a decrease of $124.42 million, equivalent to a 50.5 percent decline.
The PUNCH reported that the funds remitted to foreign academic institutions lacked significant reciprocity, with limited inflows from foreign sources into the local education sector.
Experts have predicted that the challenges with the Central Bank’s supply have led international students to seek dollars from Bureau De Change operators due to delays by banks in processing Form A requests.
Recent data released by the Home Office of the United Kingdom revealed a 222.8 percent increase in study visas issued to Nigerians, with 65,929 visas issued as of June 2022 compared to 20,427 during the same period in 2021.
The Central Bank currently faces a backlog of accumulated forex demand on the official market, pushing individuals and businesses to resort to the black market for dollar transactions. Dollar inflows to Nigeria have decreased in recent years due to declining investment and lower crude oil exports, which contribute over 90 percent of the country’s export income.
In an earlier interview, Dr. Anderson Ezeibe, the National President of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, expressed concerns about the government’s inadequate investment in the education sector and its negative impact on education in Nigeria.
“You go to tertiary institutions and you see dilapidated buildings, lecturers and students alike are not happy, students do not have access to good equipment for practicals, and at the end of the day, the system continues to churn out half-baked graduates.
“The only solution to this is for the government to invest fully in the sector. If we operate world-class schools in the country, there will be no need for people to go to other countries to obtain a good education.”
Prof. Alabi Thomas, an education professor at the Federal University of Technology, Minna, also attributed the migration to government policies that have, in his opinion, continued to severely damage the education sector.