UK’s Teesside University has launched a scheme that will help Nigerian students who are in financial difficulties by paying for their flight back home, according to a report by BBC on Tuesday.
Its implementation was necessitated by the expulsion of some students from their academic programs and subsequent order to depart the country due to unmet tuition fees.
Nigeria’s economic downturn heightened by the university decision to reduce the number of installments for fee payment plan from seven to three has left many students in dire financial constraints.
The fact that as much as 75% of recipients of food handouts from a local charity are now Nigerians speaks volumes about how bad things have got for them financially.
Teeside University had on May 22, 2024, expelled some Nigerian students due to unpaid school fees which led them being told to leave the UK.
Their inability to meet monetary obligations resulted from naira depreciation which breached visa sponsorship conditions.
Several cases of most students being locked out of their university accounts, reported against at Home Office and asked to leave the country.
The motivation behind this move is that there are strict external controls that govern its operations.
Expressing their agony, fifty of the affected students labeled the institution’s indifference as “cold hearted” and joined together after witnessing the severe consequences that led to eviction of their colleagues due to delayed payment.
On May 29, 2024, there was an intervention by the Federal Government of Nigeria in respect of deportation notices issued to some Nigerian students at Teesside University.
In the course of negotiations between university officials and a Nigerian delegation which included Ambassador Christian Okeke from Nigeria Embassy UK and representatives from Nigeria Students Union in UK.
After protests and government interventions; some of these students were re-admitted back to the university while a relief fund was established.
A BBC interview with a spokesperson for the university confirmed this, “We have set up an international relief fund to help pay for unexpected travel costs home for those few who need to return back to Nigeria.”
Also, other students can either complete their courses remotely in Nigeria or continue studying in United Kingdom later.
Several students are also reported by BBC to be taking legal action.
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