I wanted to ignore this story and keep quiet, but something kept bringing it back to my mind.
A few weeks ago, the story of a three-year-old boy, Nevada Pierre, a young footballer in Florida, made headlines. Videos of him playing football went viral, and the police were called to a youth football match involving him. While some people claimed he was being targeted simply because he was too good, the football league gave a different account, alleging concerns about the conduct of his parents and incidents during the match. His family disputed these claims.
Although the incident was more complicated than social media initially suggested, it left many people asking questions about how Black children are treated.
Then came another headline: the United Kingdom plans to expand the use of facial recognition technology to identify people suspected of violating immigration rules, including visa overstayers.
Really? What is happening?
Is this another form of subtle racism, or am I reading too much meaning into these developments?
The UK, US, Canada and Australia have remained popular destinations for Nigerians seeking education and better opportunities. However, these countries have continued to introduce stricter immigration and student visa policies, making it increasingly difficult and expensive for many international students to study and settle there.
For instance, the UK restricted most international students from bringing family members as dependants from January 2024, with some exceptions. It has also increased salary requirements for certain work visas and reviewed its post-study work arrangements.
Of course, every country has the right to make its immigration laws and regulate who enters its borders. But the bigger question is whether these policies are fair and whether everyone, regardless of race or nationality, is treated equally.
It would be wrong to conclude that every immigration restriction is motivated by racism. Governments often point to housing shortages, pressure on public services and the need to control immigration. However, we cannot completely ignore the possibility of racial discrimination in how these policies are implemented and how people from certain countries are treated.
For Nigerians, this situation raises another important question: why are we so desperate to leave in the first place?
The truth is uncomfortable. Our educational system is struggling. From primary schools to universities, we are dealing with poor funding, dilapidated classrooms, inadequate learning facilities, frequent strikes, inconsistent policies and poor salaries for teachers and lecturers.
Parents want better education for their children. Young people want qualifications that can open doors to better opportunities. Students want universities where academic calendars are predictable and where learning is not constantly interrupted.
Can we really blame them for looking towards the UK, US, Canada or Australia?
Interestingly, you hardly find many young people from these Western countries rushing to Nigeria because they want to obtain their university degrees here. Yet, thousands of Nigerians spend fortunes applying for admission and struggling to secure student visas to study abroad.
This should make us think.
Rather than constantly complaining about countries tightening their immigration laws, our government must begin to address the problems pushing Nigerians out. Nigeria needs to declare a state of emergency in the education sector.
We need better-funded schools, modern classrooms, functional laboratories, well-equipped libraries, properly trained teachers and lecturers who are adequately paid. Our universities must be supported to conduct meaningful research and provide quality education. Technical and vocational education should also receive the attention and investment they deserve.
The goal should not be to prevent Nigerians from travelling abroad to study. Rather, we should build an educational system that gives young Nigerians a genuine reason to stay, learn and succeed at home.
Until we fix our educational system, the desire to travel will remain strong. No matter how difficult, expensive or restrictive immigration policies become, Nigerians, Indians, Pakistanis and others will continue looking for opportunities abroad.
We must speak against discrimination wherever it occurs. We must demand that Nigerians abroad are treated with dignity and respect. But we must also hold our own leaders accountable for the conditions that make leaving Nigeria so attractive.
The truth is that we cannot continue to depend on other countries to provide the educational opportunities we have failed to build for ourselves.
Perhaps the question is not just whether the West wants us. Perhaps we should also ask why Nigeria has made it so difficult for its young people to stay.
Black lives matter. But beyond the slogans, Black lives must matter in our schools, our universities, our opportunities and the quality of life our governments provide.
EduTimes Africa, a product of Education Times Africa, is a magazine publication that aims to lend its support to close the yawning gap in Africa's educational development.