Nigerian YouTuber Emdee Tiamiyu aplogises after he disclosed how Nigerians use studying program routes to settle in the UK for a livelihood in an interview with BBC.
He runs a YouTube channel that guides it viewers on how to ‘Japa’ a Nigerian colloquial terms for leaving the country.
In an interview with the BBC, the You tuber disclosed how desperate Nigerians use legal migration route like studying to migrate and settle in UK to seek greener pastures. “People are looking for alternatives.They want to escape Nigeria.” He said.
This follows a ban the Prime Minister of UK, Rishi Sinak, announced four days ago that Foreign postgraduate students on non-research courses will no longer be able to bring family members to the UK, following a hike in number of legal migration. This was corroborated by official statistics that recorded 700,000 legal migration into the UK.
The Nigerian YouTuber revealed that many people who desperately want to escape poverty in Nigeria hide dehind the pretence of studying which is not real.
“We’re beginning to see that a lot of people just hide behind the studentship. So the student thing is not real, it’s not like they need the degrees. They need the degree as an access route to come into the country” he says.
According to a BBC report, a fifth of UK student visas last year went to Nigerians – 120,000 in total, with half for the students themselves and half for partners and children. Nigerians had more family visas for foreign students than any other nationality.
He also hinted that marriages that are arraigned by some Nigerians are not authentic but are just for the purpose of migrating into the UK.
“Not all of the marriages are genuine. people would just team up somewhere in Lagos” before they travel” he said
He has however come out to apologize for the damage his interview will cause his fellow countrymen after he was trolled and cyber bullied.
“I’m sorry for any inconveniences this may have caused you. If what you have seen been circulated. What we watched has made you uncomfortable in any way at all. I want to say I’m deeply, deeply, deeply and sincerely sorry”
He mentioned that there is nothing in his heart than love, progress and positive support. He claimed the interview he granted was not out of animosity but pure motivation to voice out the challenges the black community faces.
“There is no other motivation for me granting an interview than to highlight some of the challenges that we genuinely face as a black community back at home and in the UK and actually to give an opportunity to you, me, we who haven’t been heard to share our frustration.”
The Nigerian YouTuber who resides in a suburb of Birmingham, UK has over 16,000 subscribers and he records on scholarships, fellowships and japa-ships”. Where he guides his viewers on how to apply for scholarships and study opportunities overseas especially in the UK.