Students will continue to look for better places to begin or complete their studies as long as Nigeria’s university education system has unresolved concerns year after year. The fact that members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities have been on strike since February 14, 2022, is no longer news. According to various sources, the strike is still one of the union’s strikes based on the Federal Government’s inability to honor agreed agreements during prior industrial actions.
Our analyst examines the internet search interest of Nigerian students and/or potential postgraduate students during previous and ongoing strikes in this piece. According to analysis, Nigerian students did not seek information on postgraduate studies at overseas universities in 2008, 2009, 2017, 2018, and 2020. Instead, despite ASUU strikes throughout the years, they sought information on the studies through Nigerian universities. In 2008, the University of Ibadan was the only university where students became interested in postgraduate courses after researching numerous sources on the Internet. Interest in national universities climbed from one in 2018 to three in 2009, another year when students observed one of the union’s lengthy strikes.
However, an analysis conducted in 2010 showed that students began to show a strong interest in getting postgraduate certifications from overseas universities. Throughout the year, the students researched postgraduate studies at 11 different universities, including the University of Aberdeen and the University of Edinburgh. During the year, the preferred national universities were the University of Lagos and the University of Ibadan.
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The number of institutions fell to eight in 2011, before rising to twelve in 2013 and thirteen in 2018. In 2011, all eight universities in which students expressed interest were national. The University of Nottingham was the sole foreign university on the students’ minds during the year. In 2013, the foreign university that arose in students’ exploration of international postgraduate courses was the University of Manchester, as it was in 2011. Again, this year, the University of Lagos and the University of Ibadan were first and second, respectively. In 2017 and 2018, 13 and 12 universities dominated students’ information seeking behavior, respectively.
According to our analysis, none of the international universities emerged as suitable locations for acquiring postgraduate certificate in either year. The same tendency was identified in 2020, when students sought information about postgraduate studies through 12 national universities during the union strike.
The University of Lagos and University of Ibadan consistently held the top two spots between 2008 and 2020, according to further analysis using the Average Position Technique (APT). According to our data, students’ interest in postgraduate programmes at foreign institutions increased by 83.34% between 2013 and 2022 (data end point is July 31), from 16.66% (representing 2 universities) to 100% (representing 9 universities). Our analyst notes that the strike might push Nigerian students into the most sought-after international universities by September 2022 and throughout 2023 if interested parties are unable to find long-term solutions to the strike.
Exhibit 1: Pattern of Eyeing Postgraduate Studies
2022: The Most Eye National, Foreign Universities for Postgraduate Studies Amidst ASUU Strike
Since January 2022, students’ consideration of exclusively foreign universities in their quest is a crucial indicator of their impending mass exodus for academic reasons. We expect Nigerian students to be in Gloucestershire University, University of South Wales, University of Lincoln, Cardiff Metropolitan University, University of Derby, Salford University, Teesside University, University of Birmingham and Hull University this year and next year because they have been the schools that have been searched the most since January.
Exhibit 2: Average Position Per Year for National and Foreign Universities Between 2008 and 2020
