The Unspoken Movement of Nigerian Higher Education Students: Postgraduate Perspectives of Studying in the United Kingdom

• In Event: Student Agency and Multiple Voices in Student Mobility

Proposal

Abstract
International student mobility (ISM) has become a prevalent phenomenon in higher education (HE), with students increasingly seeking educational opportunities outside of their home countries (Minero, 2020). The top destinations of international students from ‘non-western’ countries for education are, in order, the United States of America (USA), the United Kingdom (UK) and Australia (Raghuram and Sondhi, 2022). In recent years, Nigerians make up the largest international student contingent from the African continent that enrol in UK universities (UKCISA Report, 2018; UNESCO, 2020; Oguche, 2022). Although ISM contributes to economic and HE growth in host countries (Zheng, 2014; Migration Advisory Committee, 2018), it often leads to localised multifaceted conflicts both home and abroad.

HE education systems in Nigeria are grappling with issues related to governance, security, infrastructure, and economic development. These challenges have led to frustration and dissatisfaction among many citizens, including students, for which the outcome is often a large-scale physical protest (e.g., the 2020 Lekki Toll Gate protests). Whilst for students who can leave Nigeria to study in the UK, the issues of parity, access and acceptance culminate in ISM being perceived as a diversity and migration issue (UKCISA, 2023). The response, although not often physical, highlight Nigerian student dissatisfaction and a form of silent protest, whereby the education they receive in the host country is used as a mechanism of resistance. As such this research study contributes, in part, to the debates on ISM by showcasing Nigerian student motivations to study in the UK and their rallying strategies used to combat migration challenges.

In the past and in recent times, there have been instances of brain drain, where skilled individuals, including students and professionals, choose to leave the country in search of better opportunities and living conditions abroad. Individuals or groups choosing to leave their home country and move to another country can be seen as a protest and a way to express their dissatisfaction or disapproval with the conditions in their home country. It is a silent form of protest that does not involve direct confrontation or traditional demonstrations but instead involves making a statement by leaving the country. This type of protest is often seen in countries facing political, economic, social, or security challenges, where citizens believe that their government has failed to address their grievances adequately. The increasing number of Nigerian students’ mobility abroad express the discontent with the current state of affairs not only in the education sector but also a show of loss of confidence in their ability to reach their career potentials in Nigeria.

While ISM is not unique to any specific country, as students from various parts of the world may choose to study in other countries, this paper focuses on the Nigerian students’ perspectives on their mobility decisions. Drawing from literature, Nigerian students’ mobility abroad for HE reflects various viewpoints of the push/pull theory and Tikly’s post-colonial theory (Tikly, 2004; 2010; 2011; 2016). However, this study extends previous research by reporting on the Nigerian students’ experiences and perspectives on their mobility decisions abroad for education as an investment in themselves and as a silent protest expressing their frustrations to the failures in the Nigerian education sector and governance of the country. A mixed-methods exploratory sequential design was used and 30 one-to-one interviews were conducted with Nigerian students who studied in UK HE. The principal aim of the interviews was to investigate the main drivers of Nigerian students’ mobility abroad. All interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. A thematic analysis was conducted on the interview transcripts which identified the main drivers of studying abroad: educational factors, culture and colonial ties, geographical factors and available funding as core drivers for change in location of study. This research also identified the main factors influencing Nigerian students’ decision to remain in, or leave, the UK after graduation. The findings from the interviews aided in the construction of the questionnaires which were distributed to allow for additional data collection. Results from questionnaires highlighted similar, as well as additional, drivers for studying in the UK. These drivers included, in no particular order: post-graduation employment opportunities, the quality of HE in the UK compared with Nigeria, the desire to study abroad, career prospects, and security.

The thematic analysis of the interview data and descriptive statistics of survey data resulted in a proposed conceptual framework which identified ‘becoming’ at the core of educational mobility decisions of Nigerian students to choose the UK for higher education. The findings of this study suggested that Nigerian students view their education in the UK as an investment that allows them to ‘become’ what they aspire to be. The findings of this study resonate and build on Tran’s (2016) view on international students’ mobility as a ‘vehicle to becoming’. Their stories continue to represent the ideals of a postcolonial legacy, their frustrations with the governance and HE in Nigeria and the quest for ‘better’. Although most studies cite migration as the main driver of student mobility from ‘developing nations’ to ‘western developed’ countries, my findings suggested that contemporary Nigerian students accounted for a ‘return migration trajectory’ with specific local economic and equality objectives.

Author

• Chimeuma Opuwari