However, quite a number of Nigerians that initially went over to the Benin Republic to study returned back to Nigeria to restart their education after a year or two of study, and I am one of them, others graduated and ended up regretting wasting three years of their lives simply because they were ignorant of few facts.
With the stress of Jamb and Post UME, a lot of Nigerian students have decided to simply hop over to other countries to get their university degrees, and a popular choice is Benin Republic's private universities.
Probably due to the tempting three years of study as compared to the Nigerian four years minimum, the supposed 'cheap' education, the almost 24/7 power supply.
However, quite a number of Nigerians that initially went over to the Benin Republic to study returned back to Nigeria to restart their education after a year or two of study, and I am one of them, others graduated and ended up regretting wasting three years of their lives simply because they were ignorant of few facts. So I decided to create this list of five reasons why studying in the Benin Republic isn't the best option for you.
1. The Controversial Certificate
A lot of Nigerian graduates from Benin Republic private universities, find it hard to get a job in Nigeria after studying there, due to questionable standards. And they also have problems studying for higher degrees both In Nigeria and Other more developed countries.
I personally know of a girl that graduated from a Private university in Benin Republic and applied for a masters degree in the University of Lagos but was declined even though she supposedly had a Second Class Result.
2. It's not Actually Cheap
Sure they'll preach to you how it's much cheaper than the Nigerian private universities, but if you calculate the very poor quality of education and structure possessed you'll realize you are paying for too much for far too little.
Even when the exchange rate was supposed to be Favorable to Nigerians, after changing your Naira to CEFA, I assure you'll be surprised at the terrible purchasing power of the CEFA.
Other than school fees, you'll have to pay either accommodation fee for a hostel that Is usually too expensive and crappy, or do what most of the students there do. Pay for a room, that is far too expensive seeing how you'll pay not just the room but a caution fee that you'll never get back.
3. The Educational Loopholes
One of the oddest things I saw in Benin Republic has got to be students coming into the second year directly without any special qualifications, merely paying about fifty thousand naira to some lecturer, or how students with barely three credits in their WAECs get admitted without any hitch.
They, the private universities, possessed very little education structure and what little they had was extremely fluid easy to be manipulated by just anyone.
You'll see quite a good number of students there, that 'transferred' from one university to the other without transcripts, and the student will have an admission letter that will portray the student has only ever being in that school and grades created and entered into the book for exams the person wasn't even in the school for.
4. The Non-Existent Social Life
One thing Almost every young Nigerian dream of is going to the university, making a lot of friends and in general be a part of a bustling university social community.
If these are your plans and you intend going to Benin Republic to study, I suggest you re-evaluate your plan. I know of several private universities there with about three People in a department.
A very populated department may have over thirty students, and a good percentage of these students are the ones that have 'transferred without transcripts' or the ones that 'skipped' classes. Not only are their demography nothing to write home about, the buildings are usually very small and reminiscent of a small JAMB tutorial center.
5. The Beninese
Sure they aren't South Africans, but they definitely have something against Nigerians. They seem to possess a general believe that Nigerians are 'Wealthy Thieves' and will go out of their way to cheat you, and generally, make life hard for you.
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I remember once in School I can't remember what exactly happened but a Nigerian student was demanding his change from a Beninese and suddenly it turned into a Beninese against Nigerians free for all, several students got their head broken and got injured.
One thing with them is that while they also have really great and nice people, a good percentage of them believe we are here to steal from them, with good reasons, and as such, they endeavor to steal from us first.
I am writing this out of my personal experience studying at a Private University in Benin Republic, after which I had to leave to come back to Nigeria to study and I genuinely hope that this helps someone out there not to make the mistake that I almost made.
Vincent Desmond is a student of Linguistics and Communications in the University of Port Harcourt as well as a lifestyle blogger at quirksandoutfits.wordpress.com.