Currency scarcity frustrates Nigerian students studying abroad – NANS

The National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, has warned that Nigerians studying abroad are being frustrated due to a lack of Form A, which is required to obtain foreign exchange for their transactions.

On Saturday, Comrade Akinteye Afeez, National Vice President, External, NANS, urged the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to investigate how commercial banks in the country distribute forms for people to obtain forex.

Afeez observed that Nigerian students studying abroad were subjected to embarrassment and suffering.

“Many Nigerian students in the diaspora have come under colossal embarrassment, attack and humiliation by the actions and inactions of our Nigerian banks due to the way the Form A payment application is being utilized. It’s past time for everyone involved to band together and find a long-term solution to this problem.

“Form A is a payment application form designed by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to pay for service transactions. Customers can use this to pay for services such as school fees, technical fees, airline tickets, BTA, and so on. Nigerian students studying abroad or planning to study abroad are compelled to use this application as their sole means of payment for school fees and other transactions involving Forex.

“Instead of seeking Forex themselves through the black market, they enjoy the official rate with the Form A through our commercial banks. This Form A has now turned into a nightmare because it is no longer solving their problems but rather exacerbating them year after year.

“The office of the Vice President, External Affairs, NANS, has been duly notified that the Form A is no longer tenable and useful for the students in the diaspora due to the level of fraud and corruption going on in our Nigerian banks. This is because whenever these students from other countries request Forex, our Nigerian banks provide it at black market rates, which are prohibitively expensive for many of them.

“Let us not forget that many of these students studying abroad are there on various scholarships. This implies that they are not financially secure enough, and the skyrocketed (black market) rate of Forex has prevented many from doing what they intended to do financially, causing them to drop out or withdraw from their studentship due to a lack of funds. Some Nigerian students at Hull City University in the United Kingdom recently lost their scholarships. Some people lost their admission and were deported to Nigeria as a result.”

Afeez urged the CBN to be more proactive in policing Nigerian banks’ abuse of the Form A option and the absurdly high currency rate.

He urged Nigerian students studying abroad to always speak out when such issues arise.