The federal government has planned a delegation to intervene in the deportation of Nigerian students by Teesside University, UK due to tuition payment challenges created by the naira.
According to the plan revealed by the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) on Wednesday, the delegation will be led by Christian Okeke, a representative of the Nigerian Embassy in the UK and Yemi Soile, President of the Nigerian Students Union UK, following a virtual meeting held with many of the affected students on Sunday.
The envoys will visit the management of Teesside University to address the “allegations of unfair and unjust deportation order served on some Nigerian students, in the middle of their studies.”
Last week, Nigerian students at Teesside University began protesting against the suspension of their programmes and the directive to leave the United Kingdom following a payment crisis due to the naira fluctuations.
The students’ financial problems worsened as Teesside changed its tuition fee arrangement from seven instalments to three.
About 60 students who shared their names with BBC called for support from the university after several people who defaulted on payments were frozen out of university accounts and involuntarily withdrawn from their courses.
During the virtual meeting on Zoom, the affected students narrated their ordeal and were hopeful of a positive outcome from the planned delegation as they risk deportation following the school’s verdict.
Abike-Dabiri appealed to the students to remain calm and not to take laws into their own hands, assuring them of a resolution.
In the short video recording of the meeting made public, she said, “I’m sending a delegation from the Nigerian government. They’ll also tell us why they are doing what they’re doing. We’re not saying you’re not going to pay, but we’re saying [they] cannot destroy or disrupt your studies in the middle.”
The story of the Teesside students would be one of many, inevitably affected by the devaluation of the naira.