Friday 6 June 2008

We Don't Need No Education

The Irish International University (IIU) is "...not recognised anywhere...it is a figment of someone's imagination. I'm white, and they appreciate someone who's from the UK. The whole thing is dodgy; of course it's dodgy. The students are getting a degree, and as long as they don't know, they are happy."

- IIU Honoray Chancellor, His Excellency Baron Knowth (real name Professor Jeffrey Woller) a successful chartered accountant from London who owns a £1.2 million townhouse in Kensington but spends most of his time living as a tax exile in Monte Carlo

Today I'm meeting my wife's younger brother at Heathrow Airport. He is leaving his job as a bank officer in Nigeria to start an MBA programme in the UK. In school fees alone it will cost him £10,000.
£10,000. In Naira (Nigerian Money) that's N2,500,000. Need some perspective? The young gentleman graduated from Ahmadu Bello University in Nigeria with a degree in Business Administration. Late last year students at his alma mater went on a destructive rampage when a rumour surfaced that annual fees for DEGREE programmes would be increased from £68 to £156. As a result of this University authorities shut the school down. All because of £88.

There seems to be a disconnect between our aspirations as young Nigerians, and the demands of the environment we have to live in. If we invested a tenth of what we are willing to give foreign universities we'd get the same level of education available to larger spread of people. We'd also stop the Professor Woller's of this world from 'misleading' us, ignorant foreigners that we are.

I sadly, have two MSc degrees awarded by a UK university. Hindsight, as they say, is 20/20.
And to think I believed them when they told me that fraud only occurred in Nigeria. Hmmph.
Jan 13, 2008

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