Following a severe crash in the value of Nigeria’s currency (the naira) as well as foreign exchange restrictions imposed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), at least one Nigerian student at King’s College London (KCL) has been blocked from being able to pay the tuition fees for their final year of study.
This article was first published in print on 16 September 2024.
When President Bola Tinubu took office in May 2023, he enacted two economic policies aiming to ease government spending and attract foreign investment — removing a costly long-time fuel subsidy and de-pegging the naira from the US dollar.
The government hoped that these actions would release domestic government spending for previously neglected sectors of the economy and stimulate business and job growth within the country.
For many, however, the policies only made matters worse. As of 24 August, 1,570.03 naira was equivalent to one US dollar, or 2,048.58 naira to one pound sterling. The naira has lost 51.53% of its value against the dollar since its peak last September, with the exchange rate plummeting by 30% in a single day at the beginning of the year. Faith in the currency has been deteriorating since. In order to stabilise the value of the naira, earlier this year the CBN placed severe foreign exchange limits restricting how much money Nigerians can send abroad.
Consequently, overseas Nigerian students at King’s are at risk of being unable to cover tuition, accommodation and daily living expenses with money transfers from home.
One former King’s student, who wishes to remain anonymous, explained to Roar that these policies ultimately forced them to abandon their degree. With total tuition costs potentially reaching tens of millions of naira, unpayable on a MasterCard via King’s Credit Control’s online portal, the CBN’s restrictions jeopardised their visa status.
“The last thing I need is King’s sending me emails every day about something I can’t fix”
The former student shared their frustrated efforts to resolve their circumstances with Roar:
As an international Nigerian student, navigating the complexities of immigration policies has been challenging. The fluctuating visa regulations and economic uncertainties in the UK have significantly influenced my academic journey and career planning. Being so close to getting my degree and then having to quite literally uproot my life because of things out of my control, has been extremely demotivating. Getting a hold of King’s admin is a challenge on a normal day, but try reaching them when your life is falling apart and credit control thinks you have connections to the Central Bank of Nigeria and can tell the president to remove the limit on foreign exchange transactions. With my mind already filled with prayers for my family back home and hoping that they’re alright. The last thing I need is King’s sending me emails everyday about something I can’t fix.
Former Nigerian student at King’s College London (KCL)
The student cannot complete the final year of their programme and has since returned home.
Not Just At King’s
The depreciation of the naira has eroded the savings of many Nigerian international students, leaving them scrambling for ways to support the completion of their degrees. Though intended to alleviate these economic woes, the government and CBN’s policies combined have made it more difficult, if not practically impossible, for Nigerians to fund their education abroad.
The CBN’s limit on foreign exchange transactions hinders students’ ability to receive sufficient funds from home even for financially capable families. The former King’s student is far from the only one navigating the personal consequences of the Nigerian Government and CBN’s policies and trying to sustain academic life in the UK.
The same crisis affected multiple students at Teesside University this year. No longer able to pay tuition, their rights to stay in the UK were terminated by the Home Office with no right of appeal. Emphasising a lack of fault on their part, one student even reported that their upended circumstances led to suicidal ideation. The Nigerian Government and Teesside University management agreed to a meeting to resolve what the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission have claimed to be “unfair and unjust deportation orders”.
At present, it is not known whether King’s will seek to resolve the issue in a similar manner.
A spokesperson for the university told Roar:
We are aware that the current banking limitations imposed by the Central Bank of Nigeria are creating ongoing challenges for students from Nigeria in paying their university residence and course fees and recognise how difficult this situation is for them. We have support in place to help students in managing this, including through our Credit Control team and student support services and would encourage any students struggling with payments to reach out. Additionally, we are working with our external payment partner to explore alternative payment options to further support our students.
King’s College London spokesperson
What is Happening to the Nigerian Economy?
Nigeria, which for about a decade was Africa’s largest economy, is projected to fall to fourth place in the continent’s GDP rankings this year.
The World Bank attributes the country’s economic decline to monetary and fiscal policies, government deficits triggered by lower oil production revenues and spending on fuel subsidies, trade protectionism and instability following the COVID-19 pandemic.
To improve the economy’s long-term stability, the World Bank recommended exchange rate liberalisation (detaching the naira from the US dollar) and tighter monetary policy (reducing the money in circulation) to decrease inflation. However, it also admitted this means “poverty rates are expected to increase in 2024 and 2025 before stabilising in 2026”. One government survey revealed that a staggering 63% of people living in Nigeria were considered multidimensionally poor in 2022.
An April 2024 brief projects that by the end of the year 40% of Nigerians will be living below the international poverty line of 2.15 USD per person per day.
With the end of the subsidy and a peak headline inflation figure of 34.2% in June 2024, the cost of essential foodstuffs, petroleum and other daily expenses has shot up. In April 2023, the average price of 1kg of locally sold rice was 546.76 naira. A year later, that same rice costs buyers 1,399.34 naira—a 155.93% price jump. Nigeria’s inflation and cost-of-living crisis have triggered trade union strikes and negotiations over minimum wage increases, deadly stampedes at food donation centres as people scramble for aid distributions and hospitals overwhelmed with malnourished patients.
Following negotiations with major labour unions, the National Assembly passed a bill to increase the minimum wage. The minimum wage is now 70,000 naira per month, up from 30,000 naira previously.
