Why Nigerian students perform better in foreign universities

Visser, who is the Cambridge University's Country Examination Manager for Nigeria added that students from Nigeria can compete favourably with students from anywhere in the world.

I have no reason to disbelieve this because the observation of this Cambridge official about Nigerian students is absolutely correct.

However, there are questions to ask?

Why do the Nigerian students always shine abroad and looked down upon at home? Why does a seemingly dull student in Nigeria leave the country for a foreign university only to become the best graduating student?

These questions I guess can best be answered by the students who have their education both in Nigeria and oversea.

Pulse spoke with some of these students who were recently celebrated by Nigerian media and they gave us four reasons why Nigerian students perform better abroad.

Here are the observations of outstanding students like Salisu Dasuki, EugeneXavier, Ifeoma Onuike and Muhammed Cengis all of whom had their first degree outside Nigeria.

1. Lecturers' ego

A lot of Nigerian lecturers are too egocentric to see a brilliant student. Their sense of pride is measured by how many students fail their course. Have you ever wondered why some lecturers would swear that you cannot have an A or B in their courses? This attitude has killed the morale of many students because no matter how much they try, the A will not be granted.

2. ASUU Strike

The Academic Staff Union of Universities incessant strike action is a major problem of university education in Nigeria. The never fulfilled agreement between the Federal Government and the Union has caused many to drop out of school. ASUU strike can be frustrating especially when the union says the strike is an indefinite one.

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This is what happened to Folafoluwa Oginni, who left Obafemi Awolowo University in 2012 due to the unions' strike and left for Hertfordshire University in the U.K. She returned in 2017 with a perfect 5.0 GP only to find her friends in OAU sitting at home because ASUU has gone on strike again. This disrupts academic performance in more ways than one.

3. Sexual Harassment

For female students in Nigerian tertiary institutions, getting good grades sometimes is not determined by their academic performance.

There have been so many reported cases of lecturers trying to force students to have sex with them in exchange for grades.

4. Poor learning environment

We can say some universities in Nigeria most especially the first generation ones boast of good facilities yet the learning environment is not conducive enough to aid proper learning. Some students still receive lectures under a tree shade because the classroom is too small to contain over 500 students admitted for a particular course. This has got the students to protest many times but their agitations only land on deaf ears.