Agatha Emeadi
Since leaving the defunct Nigeria International Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) where she worked in the Human Resources Department, Mrs. Nkiru Adesogan has been engaged in guiding qualified students to secure opportunities for university education overseas, through Le Niveau Consult Limited, which she founded. She saw the need to fill a gap and enable African students to excel and become global citizens. In this interview, Adesogan, an Igbo woman married to an Ekiti man, gives insight to how an enabling environment helps students excel academically.
How did the process of taking students abroad start for you?
It started years ago when I was in Human Resources Department of the defunct Nigeria Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) and my job mostly was to recruit staff for the organisation. In the process of engaging staff, I discovered that most applicants who studied abroad with foreign certificates were given preference and got the jobs faster. It got me thinking and I started wondering about the special reason for that class of applicants to be more successful. I started making inquiries, and carried out research and listened to people who were more knowledgeable about it. One day, I got challenged because my son, who studied science in University of Lagos wanted to become a business analyst. I used him as my own guinea pig. I sent him to United Kingdom and joined them in their class to see the difference between their system of education and that of Nigeria. With this I began to travel to several schools in United Kingdom and so many other schools in all the continents and discovered that their work is different from ours. Over there students are given reasons to think out how to apply their course to achieve their goal. I think it is the best legacy for secondary schools and I must add that it is not for the rich only. There are other schools in foreign countries where low income earners can also go and get the ‘physical thinking’ challenge a lecturer openly throws on topical issues and gets explanations instead of punishment. The foreign lecturers get students to form brainstorming pools to bring out the best in them. For every child, there is a reason for being in class. But most parents differ in this agreement; instead they enforce choice of courses of study on their children and they might not excel with such enforcement. I personally wanted my son to be a medical doctor, but within him, he wanted to be a business analyst. So when he got to the UK, the narrative changed. I discovered that my son was better off in his instinct and pursued it rigorously. I also discovered that here in Nigeria, we dwell more on theory than practical. With their practical mentality in foreign studies, before a business study is rounded up, the student would have developed a business proposal, registered a company and gotten prepared to face the future with his course. Interestingly, this was how I started the programme as a hobby while still working. Then, I began to talk to my colleagues’ children, HR people around me and from there I started visiting schools abroad. This traverse has taken me to all the continents in the world to see where the students I recruit to study are taken to. It also allows me have an update around them. It has made me to discover that the problematic ones disconnect from their course of study and go into other areas.
Why do students succeed abroad?
In foreign countries, first there is the enabling environment for students to study. All that a student requires is provided; theirs is to do just the mental reasoning that will enable them to excel. In foreign countries, lecturers give students ideas to think about to challenge their brain, and that is the best legacy one can give to a young person. My logo has different classes of people and my job is to put them up there. I also started looking for cheaper schools for low income earners who are academically sound because studying abroad remains the best option for students.
Is there any difference between foreign graduates and graduates of Nigerian private universities as both pay exorbitant tuition fees?
I have two children who ended up in private universities in Nigeria but they are not the same compared to their foreign counterparts. Apart from the confidence and deep reasoning, other juicy pecks of studying abroad include building networks, friends, citizenship and work permit etc. In Canada, there are jobs for students that pay $15 per hour. I have had a lot of children change their mentality for the best because they relocated to study abroad and not to work. I remember a student in UNILAG who could not pass his courses, his father came around and we worked it out. We took him abroad and he topped his class.
So what was the magic?
There are lecturers who follow up with keen interest on student’s education and the students are not ashamed to open up on their inadequacies because they know their lecturers mean well for them. Over there all students pass examination and pass out as well.
Why do everybody pass the examinations, are there no dull students again in foreign countries?
They have the enabling environment like I mentioned earlier which is very important in the pursuit of education. It is a system where every requirement is available for students. They have a near perfect functioning system: internet, lecturers, research materials and all that is needed by a student. They also have the opportunities, timetables and someone is detailed to follow up on a student. All these measures are put in place because students’ progress is key. That is where foreigners differ with their Nigerian counterparts. The first day I entered my MBA class here in Nigeria, I almost jumped out of the class and asked myself why spend so much and be this uncomfortable in a classroom? When my daughter was not doing well in her courses in school, her lectures were sending her mails trying to find out what the problem was, ever ready to help her solve it unlike here in Nigeria where lecturers add to a student’s trauma.
How many Nigerian students have you taken abroad to study?
I have taken more than 100 Nigerian students to different parts of the world for studies especially to Germany for their scholarship scheme. Switzerland, Russia and Ukraine also have my students there. I went to Ukraine personally to see how their educational system works. Others include Thailand and Cyprus.
Who pays the bills? Are the services offered for free?
No, it is not free. We charge admission processing fee which is paid to us. Most scholarships in foreign countries are based on merit if students do well in schools but parents pay admission procession fees. I have a student who came and won scholarship of UK 24,000 pounds. The boy gained admission and was required to maintain 3.0 CGPA, but instead, he maintained 4.0 and maintained his scholarship until he graduated. We also process their visa which qualifies them to write English tests but not all the countries require tests. But school fees are paid to schools, it is not free education.
Have you considered the exchange programme amongst Nigerian students and their foreign counterparts, can it work in Nigeria?
Yes, I was interested in the exchange programme sometime ago. Then, I went to my friend in the National University Commission (NUC) and told her that I wanted do an exchange programme and registered a company towards that effect. But before one could do that, we need to have the same standard and look at our curriculum and environment to see how we could fit in. I remember when the River State Government wanted to take some students to study ICT on scholarship. I went with them to India and fought for them when they complained about their poor rooms; I went to the authorities and protested that Nigerians are also international students who should have equal treatment with others and they responded to us immediately. Then when we used to go for educational international conferences, many countries would attend except India, but today, India is coming up fast.
With the introduction of various social media, how do you checkmate students you send out there to study?
It is good to give them the best, but parents should monitor their wards. Some countries would allow the opportunity to checkmate on the child while some will not because they feel that someone who is 18 years is mature enough to run their affairs especially in Canada, and that is the problem I have with them. In foreign countries, there mentality is different. I will always tell parents, if you want to send your child abroad, make sure he or she is well brought up, if not keep them with you here. One of my daughters has not gone anywhere because she is peer pressure influenced. She studied here and lives with me here in Nigeria; even though she does not like it. She can only go now because she is engaged and both are going together. She would have gone to the US for training, but I refused, she only goes for vacations.
How do you cope as a busy traveller, wife, mother and grandmother?
I am on the phone all the time especially when I travel. I try to hasten whatever programme I have and return to my family especially my children. My husband loves my job and sometimes he follows me. He prefers this to my NITEL work.
How did you meet your hubby?
We met in school, got married and grew up together as young people. He was about graduating while I just came in as a fresh student. He joined the military after graduating and has to travel a lot. We have been married for 34 years with our own challenges and good times. I tried so much and was determined for my marriage and career to survive.
Where do you want government to come in?
I want government to buy into this programme and encourage exchange programmes. Let us have a stand at international educational workshops for students. Let foreign students come to Nigeria and study for a period of time. Let foreign students know what they will gain from studying in Nigeria as their counterparts do.