Nigerian students accuse Teesside of mishandling visa crisis

Some Nigerian students are refusing an offer by England’s Teesside University to help fund flights home for students ordered to leave the country after market devaluation of the Nigerian naira currency left them unable to pay tuition fees on time.

They have criticised the university for their handling of the matter and have called for the students to be reinstated, payment agreements to be renegotiated and visa cancellations by the Home Office to be revoked.

The students, including the chairman of the university’s Nigerian Society, have accused Teesside University of failing to follow correct procedure in the crisis over Nigerian students being given 60 days’ notice to leave the country.

Teesside had withdrawn sponsorship and reported them to the Home Office when they fell behind in tuition fee payments.

Some students also claim they were told to go home after meeting their financial obligations because the institution failed to communicate that they had paid up to the Home Office.

One student who paid her fees said: “There is nothing I am going back to do in Nigeria. We sold virtually everything to be able to raise money to come down here [to the UK] and study. What do they expect us to do at home?

“They have to reinstate those who have fulfilled their financial obligation. Those who have other outstanding debts should be reinstated and given time to pay.”

A spokesperson for Teesside University told University World News on Monday that the correct process has been followed on the issue of late payments and the issue of whether a cancellation of a visa can be revoked is a decision for the Home Office not the university.

Payment arrangements ‘exacerbated the problem’

The students’ woes began when the economic crisis in Nigeria impacted on the value of the currency in the students’ bank accounts – the naira has depreciated by more than 200% against the dollar in the past 12 months – leaving many unable to keep up to date with their tuition fees.

According to the BBC the students’ difficulties were exacerbated by a decision by the university to change the payment arrangements from seven instalments to three.

After protests and an intervention by the Nigerian government, the university told the BBC that it will help fund flights for some students and has re-enrolled others, the BBC reported on 11 June.

Teesside on 17 June confirmed to University World News that it has opened an International Relief Fund to help students affected by the Nigerian situation who have to return to their country.

The Middlesbrough-based university in north-east England said failure to pay tuition fees was a breach of visa sponsorship requirements and it therefore had no choice but to inform the British Home Office after a group of students from Nigeria failed to pay the final instalment of their international student fees, advertised on the institution’s website as being £15,000 (US$19,000) a year.

On 31 May the BBC reported that local food charity, Thornaby's Sprouts Community Food Charity (SCFC), said three-quarters of its clients were affected students.

Wider implications for UK universities

The situation at Teesside has wider implications for UK universities trying to diversify their international student intake, as recruitment from Nigeria has rapidly expanded in recent years with 44,000 students from Nigeria registered at UK universities in 2021-2022.

International students considering the UK as a study destination may be deterred by the treatment of Nigerian students in a situation, an economic crisis back home, over which they have no control.

According to Yemi Soile, the founder and head coordinator of the Nigerian Students’ Union UK, around 60 students had fallen behind in payments.

“Students were not supported. Their mental health and wellbeing was not considered,” Soile said.

A spokesperson for Teesside told University World News last month that they were aware of the ongoing economic situation in Nigeria and had “made every effort to support affected students to mitigate the impact of the crisis on their learning experience”.

The spokesperson said the university had offered “bespoke payment plans” which had helped over 2,000 international students, but “unfortunately, we do have a small number of students who remain withdrawn on financial grounds”

Nigerian students object to treatment

One of the affected students, who asked to remain anonymous, confirmed to University World News that when she gained admission to the university in 2022 for a two-year masters programme she was given the option to pay her fees in seven instalments.

According to her, the university did not inform students in time about the reduction in the number of instalments. Moreover, Nigerian students were informed that their number of payments were reduced to two whereas other international students were given the option of three instalments.

After Nigerian students objected, they too were permitted to pay in three instalments due in October, November and December.

“They are supposed to send mail to you, remind you, and give three days’ notice. After three days’ notice, they would have a one-on-one conversation with you to reach an agreement. Only a mail was sent. They never called students …before they started reporting students to the Home Office and blocking names,” the student said.

Lack of support

She added that at a meeting with the school management students were told to go home to Nigeria. This included her and other students who had fulfilled their financial obligation, she said.

She confirmed that students were sent an email from the Home Office notifying them that their sponsor [the university] had said they are no longer sponsoring them and they had 60 days to leave the country.

“After some of us have paid money, they still failed to write letters to the Home Office to revoke the cancellation of our flight,” she said. They even told the Home Office that we were not coming to class, and that was not the case.

“I am a dissertation student, and two classes were organised for us, and I attended both classes, and I was in communication with my supervisor until 28 March when they removed my name from the [online] portal.”

In response to the university’s offer to fund flights home, she said she had not finished her programme, and if she wanted to do an online course, she would not pay £18,000 to come to study in the UK only to be sent back home without completing her studies.

She said a WhatsApp poll of affected students indicated that 20 students who had paid up had been told to leave.

She said the institution had told some people to go back and come back in either September or January to complete their studies.

Procedure change ‘compounded problem’

Luqman Obidele, the Nigerian Society, Teesside University chairman, also confirmed to University World News that the pound-naira currency exchange coupled with the alleged failure of Teesside University to follow the three-intervention stages procedure to secure payments before reporting them to the Home Office, have compounded the problems.

He said those that are affected, provided their proof of funds when the exchange rate was NGN1,050 (US$0.71) to £1, but towards the time they would remit to the school, the pound had increased to NGN2,100 or more to £1, which amounts to a more than 150% loss to students, noting that pounds are not available in the bank and they cannot get it in bulk on the black market. They buy them via transfer apps at black market rates.

“So far, we have reached out to the Nigeria Student Union in the United Kingdom, the Nigeria Community in Tees Valley NICOT, Nigeria in the Diaspora Commission NIDCOM headed by Abike Dabiri and from the intervention, some students were reinstated and got their visa cancellation revoked, while some were not reinstated,” Obidele told UWN.

We have other affected nationals from some Asian countries, including India and Pakistan, as well as Ghana, apart from over 67 affected students [from Nigeria],” he said.

In response to the offer of the university to return students home, he said that many students are in school in the UK to progress in their career and not to be sent home without achieving what they were in school for, adding that the offer is not what the students want.

He explained that they haven’t completed their studies and are expected to join virtually, including some students who are enrolled in courses with practical components, which is impossible to do online

He called on Teesside University to reinstate all students affected, revoke their visa cancellation by the Home Office, and reach an agreement on how the money should be paid.

Teesside responds

Chris Juwon Fayemi, the president of the National Association of Nigerian Students in Diaspora, told University World News that when he heard about the issue, he wrote a letter to the Teesside Pro-Vice-Chancellor Dr Warren Harrison.

Harrison replied that the institution has taken steps to support international students affected by the economic crisis in Nigeria and although instalments were reduced to three, it was upped again to five.

He noted that about 2,000 students have benefited from this support, and 160 students have received individual assistance from specialist staff to help them continue or complete their studies.

He added that the university has also collaborated with community organisations to provide a wider support network for students facing financial difficulties.

He stated that while most students have accepted the offered support, a small number have been withdrawn due to financial difficulties.

Harrison explained that the university has attempted to communicate with these students and offer revised payment plans, but withdrawal was necessary as a last resort. He noted that the university is working on individualised solutions for some cases.

“When I got the response, I contacted Dr Abike Dabiri, the chief executive officer of Nigeria in the Diaspora Commission, or NIDCOM, and she held a meeting with the university together with the member of the Nigeria High Commission in the UK and we have our representative also in that meeting and the outcome of the meeting was part of what was published by the university,” Fayemi said.

In a statement to University World News on 17 June, Teesside University said: “The University continues to make every effort to support students affected by the Nigerian currency crisis.

“Following individual meetings, we are pleased to confirm that a number of students can now resume their studies.

“A small number do need to return to their home country. We have opened an International Relief Fund for these students, to offer additional financial support for these unexpected travel costs. Some will be able to complete their studies once home, and others may return to the UK to resume their studies at a later date.

“This remains a complex situation and we are communicating with these students on a case-by-case basis to confirm their individual options.

“We also continue to engage with representatives from the Nigeria High Commission, to identify further support available to our students.”