Richard Montgomery, the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, said that the decision of the United Kingdom to ban international students was not related to Nigerians. Even so, he particularly mentioned that it is a preventative measure taken after seeing the rise in the number of international students. The High Commissioner made these statements during a meeting he had with the Vice President of Nigeria, Kashim Shettima, at the State House.
As per the data revealed by the Home Office, the UK issued passports to 65,929 Nigerians at the end of June 2022. The number marks an increase of 686 compared to 2019, when 8,384 were granted. According to reports by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), the number of Nigerian students studying in the UK in 2021–2022 was the highest since the country declared Independence in 1969. In the academic year 2021–22, a total of 44,195 Nigerian students were studying in the UK.
The number of international students in the UK has increased, with the number of Nigerian students up fivefold in three years. He further mentioned that “Last year, for example, the UK granted three million new visas, of which 325,000 were Nigerians. So, Nigerian visitors constitute over 10 percent of the people coming to London and the UK.”
According to him, the increase in the number of international students creates difficulties when it comes to accommodation and other services. Beginning in 2024, international students will not be allowed to bring their dependents unless they are pursuing PhD studies. Moreover, students will no longer be allowed to switch student routes before completing their studies. There were 679,970 international students studying in the UK in 2021/22, with 559,825 coming from nations outside the European Union and 120,140 coming from the EU.
