Market environment
Nigeria is a West African country bordering the Gulf of Guinea between Benin and Cameroon. Nigeria’s natural resources include natural gas, petroleum, iron ore, coal, limestone, lead, zinc, arable land, etc. It is the largest producer of oil in Africa and its economy largely depends on it.  Ninety-five per cent of foreign earnings come from oil and 65 per cent of budgetary revenues come from it. Nigeria is the 11th largest producer of petroleum in the world and the fourth largest exporter.

It is the most populous black nation and has the largest population in Africa with about 150 million people (UN, 2010). Principal ethnic divisions lie between the North, mainly Hausa and Fulani ethnic groups, the East, predominantly Ibo, and the South-West, Yoruba. There are over 250 ethnic groups and languages, but English is the official language. English language is the first language of the new generation Nigerians, as some don’t speak their mother tongue.

Successive governments have made efforts at tackling the poverty level of the populace, but despite all efforts, 60 per cent of Nigerians still live below poverty level. Nigeria, on the verge of another general election and has enjoyed over 10 years of stable democracy which has spurred steady economic growth. The various economic policies implemented by the government have been yielding results, as the middle class is now springing up again in Nigeria. The GDP has grown from 5.4 percent in 2005 to 7.0 in 2010. Inflation has risen to 12 percent in 2010 against 5.4 percent in 2007 due to recent economic growth which has pushed the demand for consumer goods higher.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) has soared in the country in the last 5 years with Nigeria receiving the highest FDI in Africa in the last 3 years. Lagos, the former capital city of Nigeria, remains the economic capital. According to the 2006 population census, Lagos is the second most populous city in Nigeria after Kano. This figure is still very much being debated locally and UN figures show that Lagos has a population of about 20m people (2010). The southern part of the country also leads in terms of western education, expenditure and disposable income. The South west accounts for a third of Nigeria’s expenditure. The spending pattern across both regions varies as the North characterised by an average of 5.1-6 persons per household spends largely on food and beverages while the south with smaller households 4.2-4.6 tend to spend more on education and other luxuries.

Nigerians generally value the high quality of UK education and UK alumni are highly sought after due to shortage of skilled labour locally.

Market characteristics
Nigeria gained its independence from Britain in 1960. The British system of education has consequently impacted greatly on its evolving education system. In 1977, a national policy on education was drafted with the aim of giving a clear identity to Nigerian education. This brought about a model called the 6-3-3-4 system. This system consist of six years of primary education, three years of junior secondary education, three years of senior secondary education and four years of university education.

It is estimated that the number of Nigerians aged under 14 years (primary and secondary school age) is over 55 million and the school facilities on-ground can only cater for only about 25 million. This pattern cuts across all levels of education in Nigeria. In the last 20 years, many private primary and secondary schools have been established to address the gap. Some of these schools teach the British curriculum, A-levels, foundation programmes and the International Baccalaureate is also available, although limited. Private participation in education at the post-secondary level has become popular in the last ten years.

Out of 104 universities in Nigeria, 41 are privately owned, while the Government owns the remaining 63. There are also more than 300 higher education and research institutions in Nigeria. The National Universities Commission (NUC) is responsible for university administration, the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) oversees all aspects of vocational and technical education while the National Commission for Colleges of Education is responsible for colleges of education.

A number of reforms have been proposed to the education sector following the declining quality, evident in the recurrent poor performance of students in the Senior Secondary School examinations (WAEC and NECO), lack of sufficient higher education places and shortage of skilled labour. The government recently introduced Cross Border Higher Education and approved the construction 6 additional Federal universities to increase access to higher education places. In developing Technical and Vocational Education, the NBTE recently granted licences to 23 Vocational Enterprise Institutions (VEIs) and Innovation Enterprise Institutions (IEIs) to provide a veritable alternative route to higher education. All these reforms are geared towards widening access to higher education places which currently stands at 10 percent annually and also drive the country’s long-term plan, known as Vision 2020 towards being one of the world’s top 20 economies by the year 2020.

Major competitors in the market are the USA, Canada, Australia and South Africa.

New research – comprehensive listings of Nigerian Higher Education Institutions
In order to help members of the Partnership search for Nigerian Higher Education Institutions, the Education UK Partnership has gathered overview data on all higher education institutions in Nigeria.

Specifically, this data bank provides information on:

• the contact person in each institution for international links, and development and research centres.
• the location, academic strength, student numbers, accredited courses, distance learning programmes, year established
• an institution profile
• details of any existing collaborative arrangements or partnerships with other international institutions either at departmental, faculty or institutional level

If you have any questions about this information, please contact Nom Habu, Business Partnerships Project Coordinator, British Council Nigeria at Nom.Habu@ng.britishcouncil.org.

			Overview data on Federal Universities : Federal Universities are owned by the Federal government. They are categorised into first, second and third generation universities. There are 27 Federal Universities in Nigeria.
			Overview data on State Universities : A State University is a public university owned and set up by State governments in Nigeria. They require licences to operate usually issued by the National Universities Commission. There are 36 approved state universities in Nigeria.
			Overview data on Private Universities : The Private Universities are owned and operated by individuals or (missionaries) in Nigeria. They require licences to operate usually issued by the National Universities Commission. There are 41 licensed private universities in Nigeria.
			Overview data on Federal Polytechnics : Federal Polytechnics are owned and governed by the federal government. Some of these polytechnics have been recently granted degree awarding powers by the government.
			Overview data on State Polytechnics : The State Polytechnics are owned and set up by State governments in Nigeria. They require licences to operate usually issued by the National Universities Commission.
			Overview data on Private Polytechnics : A private polytechnic is owned and by individuals and regulated by the government.

Market opportunities
Nigeria, with a huge population of over 148 million people, of which over 60 per cent are youths, presents a significant market opportunity. A little over one per cent of the population (1.5 million) are in higher education. The university structure can only accommodate 147,000 out of the 1.5 million. Problems of inadequate facilities, crumbling infrastructure, cultism, examination malpractices and curriculum issues are among other challenges which make Nigerians, especially those who can afford it, seek opportunity for quality education outside the country.

The combined efforts of UK institutions visiting periodically to market their institutions, education agents, the British Council, alumni and word-of-mouth provide awareness of UK education in Nigeria.

Over the years, Nigerians whose career prospects have been enhanced as a result of their UK qualifications have also had a positive impact on the demand for UK education.

The Ministry of Education is proposing a curriculum overhaul in conjunction with the private sector to delve into curriculum areas that have not been very popular in Nigeria but are globally time relevant. Among these are performing arts, hospitality, technical training linked to key sectors like paralegal, banking, construction and so on.

Nigerians have a varied interest in subject areas. Business studies, engineering, computer science and management courses top the list for postgraduate level. Business studies, electrical and electronic engineering, and computer science top the chart for undergraduate level.

The United States of America is a major competitor in the market, which maintains a lead in the undergraduate market due to longstanding family ties and comparability of the US and Nigerian education systems.

PMI2 activity
Nigeria’s work on PMI2 in 2008 included visits to the UK and a series of dialogues organised to cover the country focused on education and employability. We have also made progress on our work with agents and in gathering market intelligence on education in the country.

From April to October 2008, we held consultations with top Government officials, senior representatives of the National Universities Commission, National Board for Technical Education, various education consultants, parents, vice-chancellors from Nigerian and UK universities, and senior officials from the UK higher education sector. Six key areas were identified as areas of partnership between UK and Nigerian education institutions. These are:

• capacity building
• employer engagement
• quality assurance
• trans-national education and distance learning
• split site PhDs
• soft skills / entrepreneurship.

Furthermore, a top-level delegation went to the UK to hold meetings on quality assurance in higher education. Professor Julius Okojie, Executive Secretary / CEO, National Universities Commission (NUC), was the delegation leader. The delegation had meetings with senior officials from the Quality Assurance Agency, Universities UK, Leadership Foundation, Higher Education Funding Council for England, Higher Education Academy, and individual universities’ representatives.

Work is currently on-going in developing a more customer-friendly agents database for institutions who are looking for suitable agents in Nigeria. The agents on-line course for the British Council Award of marketing UK education is currently running, with the final assessment coming up in November 2008. The list of successful candidates will be made available to partners and intending UK students through the agents’ zone.

In a bid to provide better service to members of the Education UK Partnership, we have also commissioned various research about the Nigerian education market. These will be made available in the first quarter of 2009.

Our infrastructure and strategic education priorities
The British Council has four offices in Nigeria and three of these offices are Education UK Partnership supported. The supported offices are located in Abuja, Kano and Lagos and they all provide core services to Partnership members. The strategic focus of the Education UK Partnership in Nigeria is to:

• ensure quality service provision is delivered to Education UK Partnership members
• raise awareness of how to access quality and reliable UK education information among people interested in gaining UK qualifications
• build sustainable capacity to work with agents, alumni and institutions in Nigeria