A former Presidential aide to President Goodluck Jonathan, Reno Omokri, has condemned the increase in fees for the academic International English Language Testing System (IELTS) examinations.
He said the fact that Nigerian university graduates even have to take the examinations, despite coming from an English-speaking country, is an insult.
The British Council announced on Thursday that Nigerians will now have to pay the sum of N107,500 to take the examination from September 2023.
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Currently, the exams cost between N80,000 to N90,000, almost three times the minimum wage.
In a post on his X profile, Omokri called on the Nigerian government to intervene concerning the planned fee increase.
“I appeal to the Nigerian government to intervene in the planned increase of fees for the IELTS exam for Nigerians seeking to study in The UK to ₦107,500, an amount which is three times the current Nigerian minimum wage.
“First, it is already an insult to ask Nigerian university graduates, whose degrees were taught in English, in a supposedly English-speaking country. And secondly, it is adding salt to that injury to now increase the fees for the exam when it should even be scrapped. What is the benefit of the commonwealth where there is no respect for the common language?” he said.
According to the statement by the British Council, the increase in the exam fee is necessary to sustain the high quality of standards for the test.
The statement read in part, “Dear valued Test Taker, we would like to inform you that effective from 1 September 2023, there will be a price increase for IELTS tests offered by the British Council.
“The new prices will be NGN 107,500 for IELTS Academic and IELTS General Training, NGN 116,000 for UK Visas and Immigration, and NGN 104,000 for Life Skills.”
“The new prices are necessary to sustain the high-quality of standards for your testing experience.”