Team Europe in Kano, hosts study fair

The EU Delegation, in collaboration with EU Member States, hosted Nigeria’s maiden Study-in-Europe Fair in in Kano on October 26, 2023. The fair was part of events to flag off the EU’s new education initiative targeting Nigeria’s Northwest zone, tagged Education and Youth Empowerment in Northwest Nigeria.

The Fair provided a platform for European universities and higher education institutions to meet similar institutions in Kano in particular and Northwest of Nigeria in general.

Twenty-three European partners comprising 18 EU higher education institutions and five national education services participated at the fair. They represented institutions and centres from eight different EU Member States - six from France, five from Spain, four from Ireland, three from Hungary, two from Bulgaria, and one each from The Netherlands, Belgium, Finland. At the fair, the institutions and centres presented their programmes to Nigerian students and engaged with Nigerian education institutions.

The choice of Kano for the event was not a difficult one. “Kano is a cosmopolitan and strategic political, economic, cultural and education hub in Nigeria and the region, a melting pot of different cultures and religions and a symbol of living together in diversity. These are shared values that we have in common,” Ambassador Samuela Isopi said at the event.

Ambassador Isopi attended the in the company of Ambassador Wouter Plomp of The Netherland, Ambassador Leena Pylvanainen of Finland, Ambassador Peter Leenknegt of Belgium and the Charge d'Affaires of Embassy of Spain, Patricia Gomez Lzanco.

The EU could not have chosen a better place for the event, considering Kano’s long and well-known education tradition, she said. “Its universities are renowned in the region; and with its largest population and the largest youth population in Nigeria, Kano is central to the future of the country.” She expressed the hope that the fair would mark the start of many fruitful academic collaborations between Europe and Northwest Nigeria.

Study-in-Europe Fair is all about connecting people, in particular, linking young Nigerians to education opportunities in Europe. It also provides cooperation opportunities among universities and higher education institutions of Europe and Nigeria. Studying abroad connects young people from Africa, from Europe and from across the world, beyond boundaries to create a new generation of global citizens.

According to Ambassador Isopi, studying abroad is a chance and an opportunity to discover the world and Europe offers both: “Whatever your dream, whatever the field you like, you will find the programme that fits your needs and expectations in a top quality European institution.”

She also touched on the success story of Erasmus+, by far the most successful initiative of the European Union to support education and people-to-people, youth-to-youth exchanges. For more than 10 years now, Erasmus programmes and scholarships have been open to students from the whole world. This year 135 Nigerians were awarded full Erasmus scholarships and have now started their master studies in Europe. Over the next two years, they will study in at least three different universities in three different European countries.

“We want Nigeria to be number one in the world. The numbers are increasing: 800 Nigerians have benefited from the Erasmus Master Study programme since 2014, 500 in the past four years,” she added.

Kano deputy governor, Abdulssalam Gwarzo, who stood in for Governor Kabir Yusuf, recalled that Europe had historically been a destination of study for the people of the state but said high cost of funding education programmes in European universities was reversing the trend. He said the government and people of the state were still desirous of sending their wards to Europe for studies, and said both sides must sit down to work out a cost effective option to revive the old tradition.

He welcomed the European Union’s intervention in the education sector of the state and assured of the readiness of his administration to support the efforts of EU in the sector. The Team Europe Ambassadors had earlier visited the Emir of Kano in his palace, where they solicited and secured his commitment to support the initiative.