The unstable Nigeria naira rate has left the University of Dundee and other universities in the UK struggling to operate. According to The Sunday Times, the devaluation of the Nigeria naira under the Tinubu administration affected many Nigerian students.
As revealed, the naira crisis inflicted huge financial struggles on students from the West African country, causing a massive dropout. In addition, the issue led to a noticeable plummet in the number of admission seekers from Nigeria in the UK.
The naira crisis surfaced after the President of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu devalued the currency on two occasions between June 2023 and January 2024.
During that period, the naira depreciated hugely, dropping against the pound by more than 254%. At the height of the crisis, two universities in England told their Nigerian students to quit their courses due to their inability to fulfill some financial obligations.
As a result of the weak performance of the naira, Nigerian students are struggling to meet up with their tuition fees at UK universities. In return, the future of universities in the UK remains uncertain due to a massive decline in revenue as the number of Nigerians in these institutions has dropped.
To keep functioning, most of these institutions have reduced their workforce, merged campuses, and cut their expenses by a huge portion. Still, there are concerns that if the thread continues, the UK economy may face a major crisis in its educational sector.
Insight into the impact of the naira crisis on Nigerian students and UK universities
According to the Interim Principal of the University of Dundee, Professor Shane O’Neill, the massive decline in international student admission alongside other factors has pushed the institution deep into a financial crisis. Meanwhile, during the 2022/2023 academic session, the institution recorded a huge revenue increase from tuition fees as a result of the massive inflow of Nigerian students.
During the session, the university had about 13,000 students, contributing hugely to the employment rate in Dundee. Then, the University of Dundee had up to 6,700 employees.
Also, during the good run, the institution generated up to half a billion pounds annually for the city’s economy, while contributing three times more to the broader UK economy. However, about 70% of the institution’s revenue emanated from tuition fees due to the enormous number of foreign students.
Currently, the university is in a huge financial disarray as the number of students from Nigeria has reduced. Acceptance data indicated that fresh Nigerian students are no longer coming to study in the UK.
The data illuminated how the number of new intakes from Nigeria went down by 71%. Contributing to the struggles of the University of Dundee and other institutions in the UK, students from the West African nation are currently 33,000, which is way higher than any other country and the EU combined.
Hence, the figure underlines how universities in the UK and the European Union at larage depend on Nigerian students for survival. Research by the Scottish Liberal Democrats revealed that 7 out of 18 major institutions in Scotland have been affected by the crisis.
