The University of Alberta, Canada has removed Nigeria from countries that have to present proof of their English language proficiency before admission.
This followed a request made in writing by Dr. Olumuyiwa Igbalajobi, a Nigerian postdoctoral research fellow in Canada, to the University of Alberta’s graduate school asking that applicants from Nigeria be exempt from taking the test.
Dr. Igbalajobi, who hails from Ekiti State, South-west Nigeria, May 22, emailed and tweeted at the university’s official Twitter handle, calling its attention to a list of select universities from Nigeria that meet the institution’s English language requirement.
“I write to call your attention to a list on your graduate school page exempting applicants with credentials from ‘SELECTIVE’ universities in Nigeria from the English Language Requirement at the University of Alberta,” he tweeted.
Noting that “the list captured only 35 universities out of about 160 accredited universities in Nigeria”, he added that “the official language in Nigeria is English which automatically translates to the fact that all academic programmes from elementary to tertiary education are taught in English.”
Two weeks after the request was made, Dr. Igbalajobi took to Twitter to announce that the school has granted a full waiver to Nigeria.
About 2 weeks ago, I initiated a request via email, LinkedIn, and Twitter to the graduate school of the University of Alberta asking that applicants from Nigeria should be exempted from submitting English proficiency tests.
I followed up with a reminder on Monday and as of today, I am happy to inform you that Nigeria has been added to the list of countries in which English is the official language of instruction. All the best to applicants!
Together, we can achieve a lot!!!
— Olumuyiwa Igbalajobi, Ph.D (@olumuyiwaayo) June 4, 2022
It is almost a standard practice in many foreign universities to demand that prospective students, especially those from countries that the university does not recognize as an English-speaking country, take English requirements tests such as the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) and Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) to ascertain their proficiency in the English Language.
The cost of the test, which currently stands between N80,000 and N90,000 in Nigeria, is almost three times the country’s minimum wage of N30,000.
The efforts of Dr. Igbalajobi, therefore, have drawn accolades from many Nigerians who lauded his effort in getting the University of Alberta to recognise English as the official language of instruction in Nigeria.
