* Redundancies, resignations rise as institutions face bankruptcy Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja UK universities now face significant threats to their finances, a fallout of the economic crisis in Nigeria, especially, the depreciation in the country’s currency, which has reduced enrolments from the West African country. The once booming institutions are struggling to close substantial financial holes, following the increasing inability of potential students from Nigeria to pay for admission and existing students to raise the required funding. Several resignations have taken place in the universities and many redundancies have been declared in the institutions, including Dundee, Edinburgh, Robert Gordon, among others.
An apparently unforeseen £30 million black hole had appeared in the accounts of Dundee university, with external auditors recruited to try to pinpoint what went so spectacularly wrong at an institution crucial to the city’s economy and reputation that 600 redundancies had to be announced. Part of the answer, a report by The Times of UK said, laid 4,000 miles away in Nigeria, where the university had chalked up great success in attracting overseas students to fill its coffers. When the Nigerian currency, the naira, was sharply devalued in June 2023, the finances for thousands of students were undermined to the extent that shock waves washed up on the banks of the Tay, the report said.
The Interim Principal, Dundee, Professor Shane O’Neill, admitted this month that.