By Louis Achi
141,000 Nigerians have migrated to the United Kingdom in the last year, fresh data released by the UK’s government has shown.
The figure released by the Office for the National Statistics came as Nigerians embrace economic migration in what has been famously termed “japa,” a Yoruba word roughly translated to mean “to flee.”
In the data, the UK disclosed that five non-EU nationalities for immigration flow into the British country among which is Nigeria.
“In the year ending June 2023, the top five non-EU nationalities for immigration flows into the UK were: Indian (253,000), Nigerian (141,000), Chinese (89,000), Pakistani (55,000) and Ukrainian (35,000),” the release from the UK government revealed.
Early this year, the UK government announced some changes to its immigration laws.
By January 2024, the changes would come into effect and it includes the ban on dependants accompanying international students on non-research postgraduate courses.
While the development may likely force Nigerians to seek options of study somewhere with their families, a review of the data further revealed that Nigerians studying in the UK grew from 6,798 in 2017 to 59,053 as of December 2022.
Also, the number of dependents grew along. In 2019, there were 1,586 dependents and it increased last year to 60,923.
“The non-EU figures are based on Home Office Borders and Immigration data while EU figures are based on Registration and Population Interaction Database (RAPID) data received from the Department for Work and Pensions and HM Revenue and Customs and British nationals’ figures are based on the International Passenger Survey (IPS),” the UK’s Office for National Statistics said.
The increase in the number of migrants from Nigeria to the UK is coming amid the country’s harsh economic situation under President Bola Tinubu following the removal of fuel subsidy by his government.
Barely seven months after Mr Tinubu assumed office, the country’s economy had worsened and resulted in public outcry.
The President’s economic reforms which included the abolishment of the multiple exchange rate system and floating of the naira triggered inflation and also choked many Nigerians.
On Monday, Mr Tinubu expressed worries over the exodus of health workers from the country to seek a better life abroad.
