How FG swiftly addressed error in study permit fees- Chidoka

A former Minister of Aviation, Mr Osita Chidoka, said that a discovered error in Nigeria’s immigration fee structure has led to a prompt federal government intervention to rectify it.

He said that this followed a conversation with Rev. Fr. George Ehusani of the Lux Terra Leadership Foundation that led to the discovery.

Chidoka added that Minister of Interior, Mr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, immediately took action to save the situation and stopped the negative effect on students coming into the country.

Chidoka, who visited Ehusani in Abuja on Wednesday, said that during the scheduled short meeting, he learned about the work of Lux Terra’s Psycho-Spiritual Institute.

He said that the institute offers postgraduate programmes in Psycho-Spiritual Trauma Healing and Psycho-Spiritual Therapy.

“These are the same programmes it offers in Kenya and the institute has trained students from 27 African countries.”

He said that the cleric shared a troubling development involving their first set of international students who arrived in Nigeria in September 2025.

“The students were informed that obtaining a one-year study permit would cost 1,481.06 dollars per student, a fee usually applied to expatriate workers.

“In contrast, similar permits cost about 75 dollars in Kenya, with most African countries charging between 40 dollars and 110 dollars,” he said.

According to him, Nigeria lacks a student visa category on the payment portal, causing all foreign applicants to be classified as expatriates.

“As a result, Lux Terra paid nearly ₦4.5 million for two Rwandan students for a single year and the institute was already considering returning the students and redirecting future applicants to its Nairobi campus.”

Chidoka decried how a country that spent heavily on foreign education could create barriers for the few international students willing to study in Nigeria.

He said he contacted the Minister of Interior, who explained that the charge stemmed from the newly introduced Expatriate Comprehensive Insurance, intended only for foreign employees.

Chidoka said the minister called back minutes later to confirm that the error had been corrected and that student visas were no longer included in the insurance requirement.

“The insurance was designed to shift repatriation costs with Nigeria spending over ₦20 billion annually on deportations from government to expatriate employers and students were never meant to be included,” he said.

He said he immediately informed Ehusani and promised to follow up on recovering the ₦4.5 million already paid.

He commended the clergyman for his resilience and vision to bring more African students to Nigeria, and thanked the Interior Minister for his prompt response.

Chidoka said that Nigeria urgently needed to export education because it was a low-hanging fruit with massive economic potential.

He called for a national target for attracting international students to Nigeria’s public and private universities and urged the country to shape its policies toward that goal.

“Nigeria cannot afford to stay out of that market,” he said.