Okediran Adeyemi and Olukokun Yusuf
Ayo Mairo-Ese who anchors ARISETV’s The Morning Show, has made multiple claims about Nigerians and its public office holders in relation to the United Kingdom’s new immigration policy.
According to a viral video posted on May 24, 2023, Mario-Ese made the claim while commenting on the United Kingdom’s new immigration policy on live TV. She said “President Muhammadu Buhari referred to Nigerians as largely lazy and that United Kingdom shouldn’t grant young Nigerians asylum because they were criminals, while the chairman of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Hon. Abike Dabiri had referred to Nigerian young people as cultists and drug dealers. She also noted that the Nigeria Government stated that the education sector in 2021 and 2022 gave £58 million net income to the UK.”
Mairo-Ese also said, “I don’t know why Nigerians like to demarket Nigeria in an International scene. Take it back to 2016, our president, the chief ambassador of Nigeria had referred to Nigerians as largely lazy and that United Kingdom shouldn’t grant young Nigerians asylum because they were criminals. The chairman of NIDCOM, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Hon. Abike Dabiri had referred to Nigerian young people as cultists and drug dealers. So, if what Emdee Tiamiyu is saying is in accordance with what leaders and the frontrunners have said, let’s get back to the root of the matter. We need to see ourselves and project our image better to the outside world. The UK has made its laws, immigration rules and laws change per time, they are looking to bring down number one million of the immigrants in the UK, so they are making their laws, and it’s their country, their laws. But let’s not forget that the education sector is said in 2021 and 2022 to have given a £58 million pound net income to the UK.”
The one-minute six seconds video was shared by a Twitter user with the handle @ishakaa (Arewa Daddy) and it has generated at least 810 comments, 466 quotes, and retweets, 894 likes, with over 1.2 million views.
VERIFICATION
N-VA extracted three claims from the video and went on to verify the accuracy of the claims.
CLAIM 1:
President Buhari referred to Nigerian youths as largely lazy and that the United Kingdom should not grant them asylum because some of them were criminals.
A web search of keywords in this claim returned links to news reports of instances where the former president made such statements. According to a news report published by Premium Times, dated April 19, 2018, President Muhammadu Buhari criticized the attitude of some Nigerian youth, saying they were only hustling to get on the gravy train.
Also, The Cable on April 22, 2018, reported that during a panel appearance with world leaders at the Commonwealth Business Forum in London, ex-president Muahmmadu Buhari said, “More than 60 per cent of the population is below 30, a lot of them haven’t been to school and they are claiming that Nigeria is an oil producing country, therefore, they should sit and do nothing, and get housing, healthcare, education free.”.
During a February 2016 interview with UK Telegraph, Buhari said some Nigerians in the UK, mostly youth, are disposed to criminality and should not be granted asylum there. He was fiercely criticized for the comment, with many saying it failed to convey the reality of Nigerian youth’s exploits.
According to the UK News Website of the year, The Telegraphs on February 5, 2016, Buhari warned his fellow citizens to stop trying to make asylum claims in Britain, saying that their reputation for criminality has made it hard for them to be “accepted” abroad.
Also, on February 8, 2016, in an interview with Telegraph, Buhari repeated the statement saying, “Some Nigerians claim that life is too difficult back home, but then again some Nigerians have also made it difficult for Europeans and Americans to accept them because of the number of Nigerians in different prisons all over the world accused of drug trafficking or human trafficking. I don’t think Nigerians have anybody to blame. They can remain at home. Their services are required to rebuild the country. If their countrymen misbehaved, the best thing for them is to stay at home and encourage the credibility of the nation.”
He also said that Nigerians have an image problem abroad. “We are on our way to salvage that. We will encourage our countrymen to stay at home, work hard and make a respectable living at home,” he said.
VERDICT 1
The claim that President Buhari refers to Nigerian youths as largely lazy and that the United Kingdom should not grant them asylum because some of them are criminals is TRUE.
CLAIM 2:
The Chairman of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Hon. Abike Dabiri referred to young Nigerians as cultists and drug dealers.
VERIFICATION 2
A search keyword led to a tweet from the Chairman of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Hon. Abike Dabiri stating that Nigerians in Indonesia were cultists and drug dealers. The tweet was Hon.Dabiri’s response to a Twitter user, @sensegiver1 who said she should go to Indonesia and see how Nigerians are treated.
In her response to the tweet, she said “Ode! You go to Indonesia, carry drugs, do cultism and come begging to be rescued from death sentence. Thank God for @ndlea_nigeria now saving people like you from death row”.
VERDICT
The claim that The Chairman of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Hon. Abike Dabiri had referred to Nigerians as cultists and drug dealers is TRUE.
CLAIM 3:
The education sector in 2021-2022 gave £58 million net income to the United Kingdom
VERIFICATION 3
According to statistics analyzed by SBM Intelligence from the 2021/2022 academic year, Nigerian students and their spouses made an estimated £1.9 billion in economic contributions to the UK in the previous year.
The number of school fees and taxes paid by working spouses of students was estimated by SBM Intelligence to be £680,620,000 and £54.3 million, respectively.
They reportedly paid rent of £408.37 million, national insurance of £151.26 million, and health insurance of £41.7 million.
According to data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigerians spent $609.5 million on international education between January and August 2022.
VERDICT
The claim that the education sector in 2021-2022 gave £58 million net income to the United Kingdom is FALSE.
CONCLUSION
The claims made by Mairo-Ese are MOSTLY TRUE. President Buhari in multiple interviews had referred to Nigerian youths as largely lazy and stated that the United Kingdom should not grant them asylum because some of them were criminals. Also, the Chairman of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Hon. Abike Dabiri at one time in a tweet reply referred to young Nigerians as cultists and drug dealers. Meanwhile, Mairo-Ese’s claim on Nigerian spending on education is FALSE, as the figure appears to be higher.
