On June 15, 2022, Irekanmi packed his bags and baggage, left their Abule-Egba, Lagos home and headed for the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA). Accompanied by his mum, uncle and brother, they arrived about an hour later at the airport where they were scheduled to travel to Kigali, the capital of Rwanda. Departures formalities were completed, and they boarded the Rwanda Air flight. Irekanmi, mum, uncle and brother were not on a business trip. Neither were they on vacation.
Irekanmi was travelling to start a new life in Kigali. Mum, uncle and brother were only accompanying him to see the place where Irekanmi would take residence in the next four years and will soon be back in Nigeria. Irekanmi’s case is the new evidence of how young Nigerians are leaving their home Country to start a new life abroad. In what is popularly called JAPA (Yoruba word for ‘flee’, ‘run’ or ‘escape’), young Nigerians are ‘escaping’ abroad for various reasons but mostly economic.
The economic situation is dire. People pay through their noses to attend school. And when they graduate from the polytechnic or University as the case may be, there are no jobs. Where jobs are available, your ‘take home’ is hardly enough to take you home and back to work for the 30 or 31 days of the month, not to talk of providing for your basic needs, preparing you for marital life and taking care of children and other things that go along with it. For this reason, many young people do whatever they can to get a visa to any country that is worth their while mainly to study and work, earn dollars, euros or pounds, send money back home to invest and return to Nigeria after some years. Some Nigerians never plan to come back unless they are deported. The countries of destination are usually Europe and North America (the United States and Canada). But Irekanmi’s case is different. Now after nearly one year residing in Kigali, the reason for his relocation from Nigeria is not to work in Kigali.
His reason is purely educational. He was an undergraduate at a Nigerian university, specifically the University of Lagos (UNILAG), studying statistics (mathematics) before jetting out to Rwanda. And coming from an average family (middle class, many people think they don’t exist anymore as the unsavoury economic situation in Nigeria has wiped them out), Irekanmi, in his first year at UNILAG, according to him, appeared to be enjoying his studies until February 2022 when the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), unable to resolve some issues with the Federal Government, went on indefinite strike action. One month passed, they were unable to resolve the issues.
Two months passed and they were still unable to get the strike called off. By the third month of the strike action, like many of the affected students, Irekanmi was becoming edgy. There were no signs that the ASUU strike would be called off anytime soon. That was when it dawned on him that he had to start looking for alternatives if he was to finish his undergraduate studies within the four years he had set for himself. Yes, he was only 19, but his projection was to graduate in record time and then proceed for his master’s and possibly PhD.
Now, time was running out. The first alternative was to terminate the UNILAG studentship and enroll in a local private university where academic staff members don’t go on strike because they are not unionized. But the next academic session for any private university will not come until another five or six months, that is, September or October 2022. The second alternative, which appeared more realistic, was to proceed abroad. But studying in North America or Europe is quite challenging, especially with the tough visa rules and accompanying huge fees.
With North America and Europe ruled out, a family friend, according to Irekanmi, hinted him about the possibility of restarting his university education in Rwanda. Online research was all he needed to get further information before zeroing in on the Adventist University of Central Africa (AUCA) where he is currently studying software engineering at level 100. In short, for Irekanmi, it is goodbye to statistics in UNILAG and welcome to software engineering at AUCA. Indeed, Irekanmi isn’t the only young man who has abandoned Nigerian universities recently due to the unsatisfactory university education in Nigeria for Rwanda.
Vanguard learnt that there are no fewer than 12 Nigerian students studying in AUCA which operates two campuses in Masoro and Gishushu, Rwanda, but only seven of them, like Irekanmi, quit Nigerian universities after starting their tertiary education and were at different levels. And like Irekanmi, four of them, Salako, Temitope, Olusanya and Abiodun, also shared their stories with Vanguard, narrating how they found what it is now to truly acquire a university education unlike what they had while in Nigeria. Salako, Temitope, Olusanya and Abiodun claimed they withdrew from University of Benin (UNIBEN), Ekiti State University, University of Uyo and the University of Abuja respectively.
According to them, the environment in Rwanda is conducive for learning and there are no interruptions by the way of strikes in the university system. For the record, the latest ASUU strike lasted eight months, from February 2022 to October 2022. Before then, ASUU went on strike under the Obasanjo administration (1999 -2007) for 541 days which is almost one and a half years and during which public universities across the country were shut down. From 2007 and 2010 under the Yar’Adua government, ASUU had 127 days of strike action. The former President Goodluck Jonathan’s government from 2010 to 2015 experienced 359 days of ASUU strikes.
And the reasons for the strike action have always been the same. ASUU has maintained, among other things, that government must implement the renegotiated 2009 agreement, and jettison the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System for the University Transparency Accountability Solution (UTAS). The five students’ cases are emblematic of the much-talked-about brain drain afflicting Nigeria. Chances are that the students, having been exposed to what is now regarded as international education in Rwanda, are unlikely to return home to use their knowledge to contribute to the technological growth of Nigeria after their eight-semester programmes in the foreign country. They will likely remain in Rwanda where the economy is fairly stable and is fast becoming a technology giant in Africa or head to the Americas, Europe, the Middle East or Asia where their professions attract good pay and they are better appreciated than in Nigeria.
Educational destination
So, why is Rwanda becoming an educational destination for many young Nigerians? Rwanda has an agricultural economy with a few mineral resources. Coffee and tea are the main exports. But what many across the world remember Rwanda for is the 1994 genocide which destroyed the country’s fragile economic base, severely impoverished the population, particularly women, and eroded the country’s ability to attract private and external investment. However, Rwanda has made significant progress in stabilizing and rehabilitating its economy.
After the genocide, the Tutsi-led government began a major programme to improve the country’s economy and reduce its dependence on subsistence farming. The failing economy had been a major factor behind the genocide, as was overpopulation and the resulting competition for scarce farmland and other resources. The government focused primarily on building up its manufacturing and service industries and eliminating barriers to trade and development.
The country entered a high period of economic growth in 2006, and the following year managed to register 8% economic growth, a record it has sustained since, turning it into one of the fastest-growing economies in Africa. This sustained economic growth has succeeded in reducing poverty and also reducing fertility rates, with growth between 2006 and 2011 reducing the percentage of the country’s population living in poverty from 57% to 45%. The country’s infrastructure has also grown rapidly, with connections to electricity going from 91,000 in 2006 to 215,000 in 2011.
Rwanda wants to achieve Middle Income Country status by 2035 and High-Income Country status by 2050. Rwanda was one of two countries in Sub-Saharan Africa that achieved all the health Millennium Development Goals (MDGs): Under-five mortality declined sharply between 2000 and 2020 and the maternal mortality rate also dropped, as did the total fertility rate (from an increase in access to modern contraception). A strong focus on homegrown policies and initiatives has contributed to significant improvement in access to services and human development indicators. Rwandan university education is also growing just like the other segments of the country.
26 Rwandan higher-education institutions met the 2023 ranking criteria set by uniRank with the top ten being:
- University of Rwanda Kigali
- University of Global Health Equity Kigali
- Kibogora Polytechnic Nyamasheke
- Université Libre de Kigali
- Adventist University of Central Africa
Kigali - University of Lay Adventists of Kigali
7 University of Kigali - Institut d’Enséignement Supérieur de Ruhengeri Musanze
- University of Tourism Technology and Business Studies Kigali
- University of Technology and Arts of Byumba.
‘Unique case’
Rebecca Schendel, a PhD candidate at the Institute of Education, University of London, Jolly Mazimhaka, Director of Quality Assurance at the Kigali Institute of Science and Technology, and Chika Ezeanya, Director of Research at the School of Finance and Banking, Kigali, Rwanda, in a 2013 paper, captured the happenings in the Rwandan educational sector as follows: “Perhaps more than any other African government, the government of Rwanda has focused on higher education as a core component of its national development strategy.
“In the face of donor pressure to prioritize primary education, Rwanda has championed the importance of higher education as a catalyst for development. In many ways, Rwanda is a unique case, given its small size, land-locked location, and recent tragic history.
“However, the Rwandan experience offers valuable insights into the enormous potential—and the significant challenges—that face countries intending to build higher education capacity, to stimulate economic development.
“In 2000, the Rwandan government issued its blueprint development strategy for the country, known as Vision 2020.
“Chief among the priorities in the plan was the need to develop Rwanda’s human capacity to transform the country into a knowledge-based economy, capable of competing on the international economic stage. The strategy elaborated on the need for a skilled workforce — trained in disciplines such as information technology, engineering and management.
“Since the late 1990s, Rwanda has spent a higher proportion of its education budget on higher education than almost any other country in sub-Saharan Africa.
“This unprecedented financial support for higher education has led to a dramatic expansion in the sector, both in terms of student enrollment and the number of institutions. With an annual growth rate of approximately 13 per cent, higher education is one of the most rapidly expanding sectors in the country.
“This dynamic context presents a unique opportunity for Rwanda’s higher education”.
The conclusion reached by these researchers may not be a fluke as since 1999, Rwanda has consistently committed to spending between 10.78% of its GDP and 25.31% of its budget on education. The spending for 2022 was 12. 7%. The United Nations recommendation is 25%.
By contrast, Nigeria’s percentage of budgetary allocation to education has moved only between 5.6% in 2016 and 8.8 in 2023.
Possibility
Irekanmi, sharing his experience on how Rwanda became a possibility for him, said, “I had never heard of Rwanda in my life, not until two months before I left Nigeria. While researching the country, I found out that it has always been advertised on popular mediums like ‘Football – Visit Rwanda’ and I began to develop interest in the country.
“The idea of going to Rwanda was to study due to the ASUU strike and a very good family friend who knew someone familiar with visiting the country occasionally suggested we give studying there a chance. I also did my research and was interested in the focus the country put on Information Technology and the digital world”.
On what he saw on arriving Kigali to start a new life, he had this to say: “I had travelled to the United States of America before, so Rwanda wasn’t my first travel. I was so doubtful in my thought of how good it might be because it’s still an African country but what I met on my arrival in the country was amazing. The weather was cool, the city view was superb and the people were very nice to foreigners.
“As a Nigerian, who is already familiar with the common statement ‘what do you have for us’ in places like airports, hotels etc, I found it surprisingly shocking it was not permitted here in Rwanda because it is seen as bribery.
“I remember the first day in Rwanda with my mother and my uncle, the time was between 1 am and 2 am while we were still making some bookings, my mum and I went to see the environment outside the hotel and people were still moving freely at that time of the night. The bus stops still had people waiting for motorbikes, cars were still moving and there was light in every direction of the environment.
“On interacting with some Rwandans, we got to discover they don’t shout like we Nigerians do and you’re easily known to be a foreigner when you shout. They are quiet, very easy to approach and they all speak the same local language – Kinyarwanda.
“The little I got from their history is they were speaking French until 2008 before President Paul Kigame changed the accepted foreign language to English. While moving from one place to the other in the city of Kigali, the roads are very good without a single pothole, down to areas that are still not developed and you won’t hear the sound of the generator not to talk of seeing one.The country has a lot of hills which make it beautiful at night with lights illuminating from every direction”.
Asked if it was only the ASUU strike that motivated his abandoning UNILAG for Rwanda University, he answered: “It was because of the strike at the primary stage but, looking now at other factors, having to stay in Nigeria wasn’t going to give me my expectations.
“Rwanda is developing towards technology and it has been made accessible to any category of persons by providing internet at all costs and making sure amenities are in place to properly utilize for learning. The quality of education is better compared to Nigeria. There is no compromised way to get a result you didn’t work for”.
Salako expressed virtually all the sentiments expressed by Irekanmi, adding: “The facilities in my school are of great standard and the teachers are very well experienced in their fields of study”.
Asked if teachers extort students by selling handouts as we have in Nigeria, he shot back, “I haven’t even bought textbooks since the start of my programme not to talk of thinking about buying handouts because the teachers provide every material needed to get a good understanding of the course being taken”.
Temitope also spoke. Asked about the power supply situation and accommodation in Rwanda compared to Nigeria’s, he said, “I can’t say more than what I have seen and experienced. I haven’t had a power failure for the past eight months as of the time of speaking.
“On accommodation, things are quite expensive just like everywhere and accommodation costs are on the rise as many foreigners are coming to secure a place for whatever reasons here and the payments are done monthly”.
Asked if, going by what he had experienced in Rwanda, there was the need to fear university education interruptions as we have in Nigeria, Temitope said, “No, I am not even bothered because the facilities for online education are in place”.
On how costly it is to acquire a university education in Rwanda, Olusanya put it at around one thousand five hundred dollars per annum (1, 700, 000 Rwandan Franc). By today’s exchange rate, that is around one million naira, which is just the average a student would need in a Nigerian public university in a year.
Abiodun, on his part, had this to say, “I will encourage the Nigerian government to buckle up because there are a lot of things needed to be done and the future of the country starts today. And there are so many resources in Nigeria to get them done”.
Irekanmi spoke on job prospects after finishing his course in Rwanda.
His words: “Information Technology (IT) has no limitations except the part of IT you desire to concentrate on and finding a job isn’t that difficult to get even outside the country remotely”.
On whether he has any regrets about abandoning UNILAG for Rwanda, he said: “No, I don’t have any regrets. And if there are opportunities to return to study in Nigeria, I wouldn’t even consider it”.
