By Wilson Adekumola
A Gambia,-based Nigerian missionary priest, Fr Kelvin Ugwu, has lamented how the United Kingdom government is exploiting Nigerians students for testing English proficiency by their International English Language Test System exams, blaming it on Nigerians government.
The Catholic priest made this statement on his Facebook page on Thursday, while reacting to Emdee Tiamuyu’s interview with BBC in which he claimed that “Nigerian students do not travel to the United Kingdom because of degrees but for greener pastures.”
While lamenting that the UK government’s attempt to make it look as if they are doing Africans a favour to study in their country, Ugwu alleged that the UK government is benefiting more from Africans, claiming they promote flawed elections so that they can benefit from the bad leadership in African countries.
Tiamuyu’s comments have stirred criticism from many Nigerian youths who described it as insensitive.
The UK government had, however, stated it is reviewing student visa criteria for Nigerian students.
The cleric who did not find this interesting had held the bad leadership and non-functioning governments in Africa responsible for the treatment meted out to Nigerians.
He wrote, “If you have written IELTS (International English Language Test System) exams before, you will agree with me that the exams are more of a race against time than a test of your English language proficiency.
“But that is not the reason I am making this post. My major reason is the money the British government makes every year from Africans in the name of testing for English proficiency.”
While taking Nigeria as an example, Fr Ugwu said, “In Nigeria, people writing IELTS for academic purposes are too many to be counted. Those registering as of today, pay between 80 to 90 thousand Naira. To register for the tutorial, you will spend between 30 to 60 thousand naira per month, depending on the centre.
“In 2017, the council disclosed that as many as three million people wrote the test within one year. Using this figure, gross profits should have averaged $675 million (N245 billion).
”Even without being told, the number of “those registering for the exams has skyrocketed. This is also because after two years, your result will expire and if you still need an IELTS certificate, you will write a fresh one. In other words, they are saying that after two years, they no longer trust that you know how to speak, write, listen, or read the English language.
“If you check online for registration, you will see that the exams this year in almost all the centres across the country have been fully booked.
“In Nigeria, there are 34 centres offering IELTS tests (paper-based or computer-delivered), it used to be 11 in 2017, and there are as many as 5 to 6 tests every month in almost all the centres.
“On the cost. . .
“The council announced an increment that took effect as of 1 May 2023. The new prices are NGN 89,500 for IELTS Academic and IELTS General Training, NGN 96,500 for UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI), and NGN 86,250 for Life Skills.
“Do the maths, you will discover that more than 5 billion naira goes into their account annually.
“The UK is gaining more from Africans than you think. Have you asked your friends studying abroad how much they pay for school fees? Just ask and understand how much of neo-colonialism we are still into.
“Even the job most of our Africans are doing there, you think if everything is good back home, they will like to do those jobs?
“And here, we have the UK government feeling like they are doing us a favour to study in the UK. They are not. In fact, they need you more than you need them.
“If not for our stupid and bad leadership in Africa, if our government is functioning as it should, do you think we won’t be asking anyone coming to Africa to also write exams on Swahili or Igbo or Yoruba, or Hausa language before we let them cross our borders?
“This is why Africa will conduct a highly flawed election, and they will be the first to congratulate us. Why? It favours them. Why congratulate us for a flawed election if not that it serves their interest?
“Ordinarily, it is supposed to be good news that the UK govt is reviewing student visas for Nigerian students, but it is not good news now because back home is worst. It is better to travel out and go through all the humiliations and expenses than to stay back in Nigeria where human life is not valued, and where a certain old man who lied about everything will be inaugurated as president.
“Now you see why what that so-called Emdee Tiamuyu said in his BBC interview is insensitive? UK government cannot feign ignorance of all he said, they just wanted to find someone to use as Judas Iscariot, and he gladly offered himself even without collecting 30 pieces of silver. I am sure, Judas Iscariot will be grossly disappointed in this mentee.”
