In September 2020, 49 Nigerians selected out of 8000 applicants for the chevening scholarship landed in the United Kingdom to commence their masters degree in one of the most challenging seasons to study ever – studying in a pandemic, 10 months after, they met with the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing and share their experiences as Nigerians in the UK, their academic exploits, volunteering experience and contribution to the united Kingdom, lessons learnt from studying in a pandemic and their plans for Nigeria after their studies at a virtual meet-up organised by the British High Commission Nigeria on Thursday, 15th July, 2021.
The High Commissioner, Catriona Laing, welcomed the scholars to the online meetup and apologised that it wasn’t a physical event, adding that she hoped they would be able to host a physical one with other alumni later this year.
“We had a great event recently at the residence with the LSE alumni, many of whom are also Chevening alumni. I am an LSE alumnae myself and that was a really nice evening actually and we had a guest speaker talking about the role we all play in public policy whether we’re in government itself, or outside government, how we shape public policy and work for the profit of our country has been a huge challenge and I know for all of you your experience would have been somewhat different not necessarily entirely worse because of the pandemic” she said at the beginning of the event.
Studying in a Pandemic
While taking turns to speak about their experience as the “pandemic cohort”, Terhemen Agabo, studying Development Economics at the University of `sussex spoke about the negative impacts of COVID-19 on his learning experience and particularly the limitations of online learning. One of which is limited interactions with lecturers and co-students.
“Learning online for me because of covid restrictions was a first for me as a Nigerian in the UK, I would say it has both good and bad sides. The bad side is that online learning kind of limits interaction with lecturers and it also limits interaction with your classmates because as someone who is really keen to meet new people, there was little to explore online”.
Terhemen said at some point, he had in-person classes and that experience was a fantastic one for him as it afforded him an opportunity to socially meet his classmates in real life.
John Ogunjinmi, studying Forensic Science at the University of University of Central Lancashire talked about the impact of the pandemic on his practical classes as a student in one of his “crime scene investigation” classes.
He however said even though practical sessions were limited initially, now that things are opening up, he has been able to learn more and enjoy his time studying in the UK, he thanked the UK government for the opportunity and said he looks forward to implementing his knowledge for the development of forensic science in Nigeria.
Screenshot of chevening scholars
Volunteering in the UK
Scholars also spoke about their volunteering experiences. Kuseme Iseh, studying International Dispute Resolution at the Queen Mary University London spoke about how she joined her school Chevening Alumni network to mobilise alumni to give back to the university, she spoke about how she offered assistance to scholarship applicants through mentorship and essay reviews, Steven Obodo spoke about volunteering with the British Red Cross and how that experience was useful in containing the spread of Covid1-19 in Scotland. Few weeks ago, three scholars; Precious Ebere of Cardiff University, Odishika Abigail of Bradford University and Samirah Bello of the University of Sussex clinched the Chevening global awards for their volunteering activities in the Uk in what was regarded as showing dedication and hard work which brought so much pride to Nigeria by the british High Commission.
Lessons learnt in the past, taking forward to the future
Scholars also spoke on the lessons that they have learnt over the past year and how they think these lessons will help going forward and also in the future.
On lives experiences, Akintunde babatunde, a scholar studying media practice for development and social change at the university of sussex spoke about infusing life experiences into academic activities, using #EndSARS as a case study for his digital activism class at the University of Sussex, He also spoke about how little he knew about Africa and his determination to improve his knowledge of the continent going forward by visiting and interacting with people from the other countries on the continent.
Feedback useful for UK’s process for future support
Catriona, while responding to the experiences of scholars, said the meeting was necessary as the interaction with scholars will be helpful for the UK government to further improve investment in future leaders through programmes like the Chevening scholarship, She emphasised the importance of the wider extracurricular experience shared by scholars. She advised the scholars that, now that things are opening up, they should take the opportunity to travel and socialise more and also learn and understand British history. Scholars were also advised to use the remaining 3 months of the program to reflect on their journey, self-evaluate to determine the lessons they have learnt so far and improve on areas where they are lacking, be it networking, volunteering etc.
Chevening is the UK government’s international awards programme aimed at developing global leaders and it is funded by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
The recipients are personally selected by British embassies and high commissions throughout the world.
Chevening offers a unique opportunity for future leaders, influencers, and decision-makers from all over the world to develop professionally and academically, network extensively, experience UK culture, and build lasting positive relationships with the UK.
Since 1983, over 50,000 professionals have studied in the UK through Chevening.
Application for the 2022/2023 academic year will be out in August 2021, details can be found on the Chevening website.
