The British High Commissioner in Nigeria, Mr. Richard Gozney, on Friday said that only 8,000 out of 28,000 Nigerians that applied to study in the United Kingdom in 2006 were successful.
Gozney, who was on a visit to the Minister of Education, Dr. Igwe Aja-Nwachukwu, in Abuja explained that the remaining applicants (20,000) could not fill their visa forms correctly.
The envoy, who visited the minister in company with the Head, British Council in Nigeria, Mr. Peter Upton, however, said there was a likelihood that the number of Nigerians desirous of studying in the UK would increase in 2007.
He said that given the high number of applicants, the possibility of one-on- one interview with them was non-existent.
Gozney said that if applicants took time to complete their visa forms correctly, it would assist the commission to fish out those bent on using student visa to enter the UK illegally.
He said that the high commission had detailed provisions in the forms such that only genuine students could supply required information.
On his part, Upton said that the commission intended to work with the Minister of Education and the National Universities Commission to revive the partnership between British universities and federal universities in Nigeria in the next three years.
He said that the UK saw the move as a long mutual way of sharing knowledge with the universities.
He described education as the most important socio-economic policy of any government.
Upton said, �There is nothing more important than getting education right. Countries must work to get it right. If they get it right, the people will be useful to themselves and the society.
�If they don�t get it right, there will be unemployment, increase in crime and the country will be the worse for it. That is why I�m worried that countries must work to get education right.�
In his response, Aja-Nwachukwu assured Gozney and Upton that the ministry would cooperate with the high commission to streamline student visa applications in the country.
He said that the ministry would also welcome inputs from the commission on ways of moving education forward in Nigeria.
He reiterated that the ministry was committed to the ongoing reforms in the education sector, saying that education was a major plank of the seven-point agenda of President Umaru Yar�Adua administration.