Nigerian students avoid UK after migrant policy shift

Dwindling job opportunities, high inflation, and rising insecurity has sparked an exodus of young Nigerians in recent years known locally as “Japa”. It’s a slang term meaning “flee” or “escape” in the Yoruba language widely spoken in southwest Nigeria.

Britain has traditionally been the preferred destination for many Nigerian students, in part due to the lack of a language barrier, being in similar time zones, and the short flight between the two countries. But the US and Canada have grown in popularity in the last few years.

The number of Nigerian students in Canada rose by 45,965 from 2022 to 2023 — a 113% increase — according to the Canadian Bureau for international Education, a non-profit organization whose members include more than 100 higher education institutions.

A separate study, published by Canadian technology company ApplyBoard last November, found that Nigerians were Canada’s fastest growing group of international students in the first half of 2023.

Canada has sought to increase its number of international students as part of a broader effort in recent years to increase immigration to counter its low birth rates and stimulate economic growth.

One student, 22-year-old David Omoyajowo, said the ease of securing citizenship in Canada made it a more attractive option.

“I don’t like going where I am not wanted,” he said in an interview in Lagos. “Every two years there’s always some issue about immigration or fears of people stealing their jobs.”

Nigerian students are clearly staying away from Britain — and the shift has been swift. One key factor is the collapse of the naira currency since the decision in May 2023 to allow it to float. That has pushed up the cost of moving abroad, making it unaffordable for many.

But the policy change preventing postgraduate students from bringing their families made the UK particularly unattractive for Nigerians who could afford to study abroad. I predicted this impact when the restrictions were first announced by Britain’s then Conservative government in May last year, more than half a year before they came into effect.

Much like Brexit, the funding catastrophe faced by British universities can be traced to attempts to address a deep rooted concern about migrant numbers. And the result is proving to be equally disastrous.

Leaving the European Union torpedoed Britain’s economy and, in this case, the country’s higher education institutions are reckoning with their heavy reliance on non-EU international students — and, specifically, those from Nigeria.

The increased public hostility towards migrants in Britain will only make the country seem less appealing. Images of white supremacists who rioted in British cities earlier this month traveled around the world. It’s easy to see why, given the chance, Nigerians will want to move to more welcoming countries like Canada.

“The numbers of African students studying in Italy should be increased,” Italian foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, said last week.

Italy’s national statistics agency estimates that the country issued about 25,000 study permits in 2022, compared to almost 105,000 issued by France and about 70,000 by Germany. It cited the limited use of Italian as a foreign language as one of the likely reasons for the country’s lack of popularity compared to other European countries.

Bank Chiugo Anagbogu, a student at the University of Lagos who hopes to begin studying in the UK early next year, said she is undeterred by the policy changes over the past year to limit migration.

“Maybe my perspective would be different if I had a family that I wanted to take there. But they’re protecting their economy and that’s quite okay,” she told Semafor Africa.

— Additional reporting by Alexander Onukwue in Lagos