UMAR ABDULLMUTALAB FAROUK’ S ACT IS A STUMBLING BLOCK FOR NIGERIAN STUDENTS ASPIRING TO STUDY ABROAD .

The U.S. law makers are already proposing a law that will make ethnic profiling of passengers whose destination is the U. S. legal, this is as a result of the review of the criminal justice system on terrorism of the US following the attempted bombing of a Detroit-bound plane on Christmas day by a misguided young nigerian.

This means that responsible and harmless travellers from some selected ethnic group might be considered high risk passengers and will be subjected to delay due to rigorous checks, screening and other inhuman treatment at the airport
Before this ugly incidence, the UK has introduced a points-based system for providing students with UK Visas.

The idea of introducing the points-based system was to prevent fake students and terrorists from entering UK. With this development, one can only imagine that genuine Nigerian students aspiring to study abroad will go through hell to secure admission and entry visa into the U.S. and U.K.
Also, U.S. Visa lottery and Scholarship opportunities for qualified Nigerian students will now have to be determined by more stringent rules as Nigerians are now considered high risk passengers.

As at the time of writing this article, Nigeria as been blacklisted as one of the countries to be on the terrorist watch list. The nigeria’s information minister has however refuted this decision by the US Security Agency on the grounds that the conduct of one out-of-control isolated individual cannot not be used to judge a nation of over 150 million citizens.

However, concerned authorities should remember that these students which includes nigerians are generating £8.5bn a year for the economy as well as contributing 8% of the universities total income in fees in Britain. All these will be cut off when visas are refused to genuine and bonafide students and their future be put in serious danger.

A study says that 2,777 aspirants including nigerian students were questioned by the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA). About two-fifths of them faced difficulties in clearing visas hence their applications were rejected and that is even before the attack .

One had been refused a visa for putting her nationality as "Nigeria" rather than "Nigerian". Moreover, at least 10% had been refused a visa the first time, but were successful at later attempts.
UK immigration minister Phil Woolas last month admitted that more than 23,000 overseas students including nigerians had been forced to reapply for their UK visas in the last six months and had been granted them on the second or third attempt.

In view of the foregoing, it will be imperative to adopt measures that will not jeapardise the chances of bright genuine students while not downplaying the need for effective security and protection of lives and national assets of the U.S. and the U.K.