The latest report by the United Kingdom (UK) has revealed that the number of Nigerians granted sponsored study visas increased by 529 per cent in two years. This development may not be unconnected by the disruptive university education in the country occasioned by the continual strike action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
According to the immigration statistics published on www.gov.uk on Thursday, between March 2020 to March 2022, a total of 58,887 study visas were granted up from 17,366 in March 2021. The government in Nigeria and the leadership of ASUU have been on loggerheads over overdue payments, which the President Buhari administration that is overburdened with huge debt is finding difficult to pay. As a result universities in the country have been on prolonged strike action.
The report disclosed that Nigeria had the third-highest number of nationalities granted UK sponsored study visas after China and India, as of March 2022. It read, “Chinese nationals were the most common nationality granted sponsored study visas in the year ending March 2022, with 116,967 visas granted, similar to the number seen in the year ending March 2020 (118,291).
“Although the overall number was similar, Chinese students accounted for only 25 per cent of the total number of sponsored study visas granted, the lowest proportion since the year ending March 2012 and much lower than the peak of 43 per cent in the year ending September 2019.
“COVID-19 restrictions were implemented early in China, from January 2020, and therefore may have disproportionately affected the number of study grants to Chinese students in 2020. Before travel restrictions were implemented, there had been a steady rise in the number and proportion of sponsored study visas granted to Chinese nationals since 2009.”
The report further said 107,978 visas were issued to Indian nationals in the year ending March 2022, almost double the number compared to the previous year and 122 per cent higher than the year ending March 2020. It added, “Indian nationals remain the nationality with the second-highest number of sponsored study visa grants. Chinese and Indian nationals together comprise almost half (48%) of all sponsored study grants.
“For the other top five nationalities, Nigerian nationals saw the largest percentage increase in sponsored study grants compared with the year ending March 2020, increasing by 49,532 (+529%) to a record high of 58,887, making them the third-largest nationality group in the last year.”
