Tales of Nigerian Students in Ghana

To all graduating Nigerian students in All Nations University, Central University, Wisconsin International University College and Methodist University College Ghana.

Congratulations to you all.

Being an international student can be hard, one of it is being a Nigerian student in Ghana. The language is hard, the food is weird and the Ghanaians embraced their culture so well that most times they forget that there are some foreigners in their motherland. Sometimes when you think you’re on your own it can be extra hard.

The main aim of this page is to share our experience as Nigerians living and studying in diaspora (Ghana), this will help the Nigerian students to cope with the pressure of being away from home.

"In Nigeria, when we meet a foreigner and he does not understand what we are saying, we try to speak the language in which the person will understand most times English, if it comes to worst we speak Pidgin English to enable the person to flow with us. But in Ghana, it seems a little bit hard as some of them can't speak English to converse with the foreigners.”

“One of the biggest problems for Nigerian students in Ghana is accent: it takes us longer to understand some of the words that has been said. By putting lecture slides in our notes, most times we find it hard to comprehend the words that the lecturer dictate."

“The useful thing we found is making the lecturer repeat the words over again, making friends with them, listening attentively and being engrossed on how they pronounce their words. Honestly, there are no differences in intelligence or critical thinking. The biggest difficulty is the language barrier, unfamiliarity with all usual practice and being seen as a competitor in a foreign land."

“Studying in a foreign country can be a challenge as well, which can be partly overcome by reading books in order to acquire vital study skills and advanced knowledge.”

“Some of my classmates advocate that we can divide into study groups after class and discuss the contents and assignments. Some students well understand some parts of the lecture, while others are good at other parts of the lecture. We can communicate and exchange our ideas here.”