SCHOOLING IN TRNC- Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). A thread!

Sometime ago, during an interview with Chude, Mrs. Abike Dabiri made mention the TRNC advising Nigerians to stay away from the place. While she had reasons to say so, this thread isnt to refute that claim.

Also, during a reparation exercise of Nigerian Citizens from #Turkey, The Honorable Minister of Foreign Affairs said “... Nigerian evacuees from #Cyprus”; Maybe the honorable minister’s office does not allow him mention TRNC directly. I dont know.

The 212 students the honorable minister was referring to were returning from the TRNC NOT #Cyprus per se and this is where we make the first distinction: TRNC and RoC are both on the Island of Cyprus but two different countries.

The Republic of Cyprus (RoC) is recognized by the UN, the EU and by extension, Nigeria. RoC is also a member the EU and an aspiring applicant to the schengen area. When the word #Cyprus is used to address the Island like the minister did, it typically refers to RoC.

If you are interested in learning more about RoC, schooling et al, see your plug here: @Ola2nbosunMatty. However, TRNC has NOT been recognized by the UN or the EU (or Nigeria) since its Independence on the 15th of Nov, 1983.

This is the reason I say (maybe) the honorable minister’s office may not have allowed him mention it directly, perhaps to avoid an international diplomatic incident. (My opinion).

Now, schooling in a country that isnt recognised by the UN, EU, your own country...

...infact not recognised by any country in the world except #Turkey exposes you to a lot of risks and exploitation. A quick search about North Cyprus on google will reveal a lot of sad stories. This is why Mrs Dabiri has spent time advising young Nigerians to avoid the place.

So now that I have cleared those two up, why this thread? Let me share some stats first. According to a 2017 report, there are >30k immigrants on the Island from several countries out of which >20k are Africans. Of the >20k Africans, Nigerians are the highest %tage...

Between 2017 and now, those numbers have only increased and isnt likely to go down anytime soon. Also, school fees cost $3.3K at the very minimum (exclusive of permits, housing, taxes and other costs). This means that African students contribute at least (16% of the GDP)

$67.7M out of $4.039B Total GDP to the TRNC every year. Other international students from other countries contribute 24% bringing total contribution to the GDP of the TRNC by foreign students (>30,000 & 10% of the population) to 40% of GDP.

This also means that Africa alone (and in way, Nigeria; if you follow the numbers) are the single highest contributors to the TRNC economy. Mrs. Dabiri means well but the data shows discouraging Nigerians from coming over might save one or two lives but isnt making a dent.

It would be prudent for Nigeria to explore other options in relating with the TRNC, like the UK has done. Orgs like @voiscyprus is a great place to start in understanding the terrain and how to build structures to facilitate this.

This sturcture would do far more good in helping future and current students while at the same time reducing to a great extent the exploitation that Nigerian students go through at the hands of admission agents, housing agents, turkish employers and tone-deaf universities.

That said, if you currently school in the TRNC and/or regardless of everything still want to come school in the TRNC, I’d advise you read the below first:

Study Abroad Advisory Service for Turkish Republic of North Cyprus (TRNC). https://link.medium.com/bNxd560mr8 

My DMs are open for Qs.

P.S: Qs as regards schooling in the TRNC please, NOT canada or Europe or any other place please.

End.

Someone should be able to send in a tweet to ask about TRNC and get adequate, correct and relevant information BEFORE leaving Nigeria should they choose to: https://twitter.com/obasaolorunfemi/status/1287419146670669826?s=21 https://twitter.com/obasaolorunfemi/status/1287419146670669826

PR in the TRNC? A thread!

(It is my hope that with all of these threads, we can reduce the numbers of those who would otherwise have been stranded while boosting the chances of those who choose to come regardless. Yes, we can do both).

Another thing that makes this thread important is that a lot of information about TRNC especially for African immigrants either do not apply to Africans, are not readily available and where they are, it is in turkish.