Tiamiyu said that he can understand why the government might want to take action and that "we are beginning to see that a lot of people just hide behind the studentship. Som the student thing is not real, it's not like they need the degrees."
The Nigerian Youtuber, Emdee Tiamiyu, has insisted that Nigerians see student visas as answered prayers and the easiest route to escape from Nigeria and live abroad.
Tiamiyu, who promotes himself as YouTube's number one guide to "scholarships, fellowships and japa-ships" in an interview he granted to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) said that Nigerians seeking admission into school in the UK only consider it as an alternative means to run away from Nigeria.
He said, "People are looking for alternatives. They want to escape Nigeria,” adding that "The student route is more like an answered prayer," and that it is a "big bracket that's able to take a lot of people, the ordinary people."
“The student thing; it’s not like they need the degrees. They want the degrees as access to come into the country. So a lot of these people, their priorities shifted real fast. It’s not really about the education,” he said.
Tiamiyu said that he can understand why the government might want to take action and that "we are beginning to see that a lot of people just hide behind the studentship. Som the student thing is not real, it's not like they need the degrees."
But Nigerians both at home and in the diaspora have lambasted Tiamiyu over the interview and demanded that he tender public apologies and retract his statements.
Reacting to Tiamiyu’s BBC interview, a Twitter user, @oluwatolz2 said, “Tiamayu is really suffering from what I don’t know. No one can tell me otherwise. I hope you won’t cry when the white are done using you.”
Also, @mzbrowniee05 said that “He will definitely regret it! If not now but later in the future! What he did has a long time implications on Nigerians home and abroad, not just in the UK but other developed countries jeezzzzzz!!! I am livid.”
Another Twitter user, @drpenking, attaching Tiamiyu’s photo wrote, “This is Emdee Tiamiyu on his way to UK in September 2022. He entered the UK with same dependent route on September 2022. Less than 9 months after he entered UK, he closed the boarder against his kinsmen and lineage with his mouth.”
A popular Nigerian investigative journalist, Fisayo Soyombo said, “On the one hand, if all the Nigerians he has “helped” to the UK via study visas were interested in immigration rather than education, then Emdee Tiamiyu is an unscrupulous individual who should be scrutinised by the UK Home Office.
“His opinion is the very antithesis of the Nigerian can-do spirit. I personally know numerous Nigerians who are interested in nothing but British education and the opportunity it affords them to advance their education and careers, effectively bolstering the UK’s skilled workforce while very painfully draining Nigeria’s. Tiamiyu has a dubious network if he hasn’t been encountering such Nigerians.
“On the other hand, the grouping of all Nigerians as a corner-cutting, disingenuous lot by Tiamiyu, coupled with the UK’s ban on dependant visa for international students, is yet another reminder that there is nothing better than building our own country.
“Wherever we go, we will always be second-class citizens, sometimes even betrayed by our own Tiamiyu-esque kinsmen.”
But while reacting to the backlashes against him on Twitter Space on Tuesday, he said his controversial comments were not attract popularity.
“I am grateful for being one of the leading voices. I may not be popular. I am not even looking for popularity as long as I have an impact. We have changed lives,” he said.
“If you want to shine, ask BBC to interview you too. I mean every word that I say. I talk real, I am very real. DJ Real is learning from me. I am very humane and personable,” he added.
In a video chat with broadcaster Ifedayo Olarinde, popularly known as Daddy Freeze, Tiamiyu said being real offends people so he “would have to find a balance between being real and being diplomatic because if you want to be real”.