Page 1 of 10

Archives of Business Research – Vol. 9, No. 3

Publication Date: March, 25, 2021

DOI: 10.14738/abr.93.9695. Nyewusira, B. N., & Nyewusira, C. (2021). Reflections on the Dangers and Delusions of Education Tourism for Educational

Development in Nigeria. Archives of Business Research, 9(3). 198-207.

Reflections on the Dangers and Delusions of Education Tourism

for Educational Development in Nigeria

Benjamin. N. Nyewusira, Ph.D

Department of Educational Foundations,

University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Chituru Nyewusira

Department of History & Diplomatic Studies

Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Port Harcourt

ABSTRACT

In contemporary times, education tourism has become such a

complex phenomenon vis-à-vis the overall development of

education in Nigeria. This paper, after explaining the concept of

education tourism, takes into consideration the initial historical

imperatives that occasioned the need for Nigerians to travel

overseas for Higher Education. It identifies the challenges that

prompted a rise in education tourism, noting that the Nigerian

education sector in particular, and the Nigerian nation in

general, suffers huge capital flights as a result of this

phenomenon. A further critical analysis from the paper shows

that the recent incidents and experiences with education

tourism live some Nigerian students with many dangers and

delusions-the delusions arising from the incongruence between

the knowledge acquired abroad and the dysfunctional social

systems in Nigeria. Consequently, the paper submits that

Nigerians will be speared much of the complex problems

identified with education tourism if the country can adopt some

immediate and remote measures that will revitalize its

education and make it attractive to the rest of the globe.

Key words: Education, Tourism, Dangers, Delusions, Development.

INTRODUCTION

The mass exodus by Nigerians to search for higher education outside the shores of the

nation has turned it into one with the highest number of foreign students across the globe.

For one, the parlous state of education in the country has been attributed to as one of the

reasons that encourage such exodus. Although those that go abroad for education

supposedly enjoy adventure, cultural diversity and superior learning environment coupled

with the benefits of internationalized curricula, they unfortunately miss the exposure to

that form of curriculum that captures the archetypal socio-economic and political

challenges of Nigeria, which education is meant to resolve. In view of this, it has become

Page 2 of 10

199

Archives of Business Research (ABR) Vol 9, Issue 3, March-2021

very necessary to re-visit the discourse on the merits and demerits of education tourism

vis-a-vis the educational system in particular and the Nigerian society in general.

Furthermore, it has not been realized that education tourism actually presents a window of

opportunity for the Nigerian government, policy-makers and education practitioners to

search for other alternative measures that can be easily explored to make the country’s

educational system attractive to its citizen and to the outside world. Bearing in mind that,

nowadays, the practice of going overseas for studies has some inherent dangers, it has

become necessary to avert such dangers by devising measures that will de-emphasize

education tourism. In effect, searching for those alternative measures that will be geared

towards overcoming the shortcomings of education tourism is essentially the thrust of this

discourse.

UNDERSTANDING EDUCATION TOURISM

Education tourism otherwise interpreted as the sheer crave and quest for education in

foreign countries, is unarguably on the rise in Nigeria. The context of tourism is used to

describe the deep-rooted quest and delight by students (and their sponsors) to have their

studies outside the shores of Nigeria. Education tourism equally typifies much of the

involvement of government and corporate entities in sending Nigerian citizens abroad

under their various scholarship/bursary schemes. The post-graduate scholarship scheme

of Shell Nigeria, for example, is exclusively operated in partnership with three universities

in the UK- Imperial College London; University of Leeds and University of Aberdeen. Again,

it represents the desperation on the part of some students who strictly opt for foreign

education in anticipation that the work permit or outright job opportunities that are

massively missing in the home front will be found in overseas.

Education tourism has equally become a status symbol commonly associated with the

socio-economic lifestyle of the nouveau rich, who take utter pride and pleasure in sending

their children/wards to renowned and legendary universities that are overseas or indeed

any institution outside Nigeria. Such affluent people, by a way of wanting to impress

anyone, are quick to mention where their children are studying outside Nigeria, even

where such profile is not required. In fact, it has become fashionable for rich public

officeholders, as well their counterparts in the business sphere, to show off social media

snapshots of their children graduating from some of the most expensive institutions

abroad. What the rich attached to foreign education is akin to their preponderant

preference of foreign medical services, otherwise known as medical tourism.

In view of the immediate foregoing, there is this strong assertion that part of the reasons

why the education system in Nigeria is grossly neglected is because the rich and most

political/state actors are in the habit of sending their children/ward to study overseas

(Kanu & Okwonkwo, 2019). It is this assertion also that has necessitated the calls by some

stakeholders on the need for Nigeria to checkmate the whole concept of education tourism.