Dear the University of Surrey Vice-Chancellor,

We, the undersigned, hereby present to you this joint letter because of the dire situation currently facing Nigerian international students.

As a result of the severe economic crisis in Nigeria and drastic devaluation of the Nigerian currency, the Naira, many Nigerian students enrolled at the University of Surrey are unable to afford the eye-watering cost of living and studying, which have increased by 300% since the start of the academic year.

Some Nigerian students who cannot pay their tuition fees are being excluded, and their visa sponsorship withdrawn, with only 60 days’ notice to leave the UK. Students who are being excluded have been told by the university that the only way they can be un-excluded is by paying in full the total balance of their tuition fees.

One student who is being excluded had to sell their house to come and study at the University of Surrey. There are students who are suicidal over the prospect of expulsion and a return to Nigeria. This is the scale of anguish that this crisis is causing for Nigerian international students at the university, who have no control over this situation.

For all Nigerian students, getting an education is a means for survival. Denying students this opportunity to continue their studies is denying their survival. In Nigeria, there is enormous stigma attached to people who go to study abroad and end up unable to afford their education.

On its website, the University of Surrey proudly speaks of “a vibrant Nigerian community of over 160 students”. What is posed currently is the obliteration of this community. We cannot allow a section of our student body to be unfairly penalised simply for the country that they happen to have come from.

That is why we are asking the university management to consider the following demands:

● Ensure no exclusions for Nigerian students who are unable to pay their tuition fees.
● Extend the payment period for Nigerian students struggling to pay their tuition fees.
● Allow students to pay their tuition fees at the old Naira rate of N584.20.

Nigerian students are struggling, and so are staff, who are facing a savage round of redundancies, as well as all other students, who currently face a historic cost-of-living crisis. By uniting our struggles together, we can fight for a fully funded, democratic university system where everyone can live and learn in comfort.