Nigerian students struggle to pay school fees

olamide oni

February 18, 2016 12:06 PM

Ofoegbu said he's hearing from other Nigerian students on the UPEI campus who are feeling stressed about the situation at home.

UPEI student Caleb Ofoegbu says the situation in Nigeria has caused stress for students here in Canada.

Some students from Nigeria studying at UPEI are struggling to pay their tuition after new banking rules in Nigeria are making international money transfers more cumbersome, CBC reports.

The Buhari-led government has issued a directive that more paperwork should be demanded for international money transfers, which is making it difficult for families to send money to their children studying in Canada.

Caleb Ofoegbu, a fourth-year student from Nigeria studying economics and sociology, was unregistered when his family was unable to pay his tuition last semester.

His father was finally able to transfer money in late January, allowing Ofoegbu to start the semester one month late.

"If I hadn't gotten the money, the little money I had to pay the tuition, I think my graduation would have been in the balance and I don't think I would have been graduating this semester," said Ofoegbu.

READ: 250 Nigerian students might be deported from Canada

"The problem is most of them are afraid to speak out," Ofoegbu said. "They prefer to let the situation overwhelm them."

Ofoegbu said his family is struggling in the wake of plummeting price of oil, which has sent the Nigerian currency into a downward spiral, making their money worth less in Canada.

His father is a retired engineer who now runs his own business dealing with aviation equipment and tractors.

"His business comes from the economy, right?" Ofoegbu said. "People won't want to invest their money in an unstable economy.

"Recently he expanded his business so he collected loans from the bank ... And he used our house as collateral. So if he misses any payments, everything is gone."

UPEI is doing what it can to accommodate the changing situation in Nigeria.

With more than 100 students from the African country, it's the third largest group of international students on campus after the U.S. and China.

READ: 2 Nigerian student-athletes drown in Canada, US on same day

Zhaohui Wang, manager of enrolment at UPEI, said the Nigerian government's new policies on transferring funds internationally are "more cumbersome and difficult," creating more red tape for students and their families.

"There are extra steps for them to go through, additional documents for the parents to obtain from us, to provide to the banks," Wang said.

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