Nigerian lawyer abandons PhD scholarship in Ireland over ‘racist family visa process’

Ola Obagun, a lawyer, has called out the embassy for the Republic of Ireland in Nigeria for allegedly denying his family visa to the European country.

In a Twitter thread on Wednesday, Obagun said she got a fully funded scholarship for her Ph.D. programme at the South East Technological University (SETU) in the Republic of Ireland.

The lawyer said in November 2021, the embassy approved her study visa but denied that of her 10-month-old child and her husband for not having sufficient funds.

Obagun said the visa denial for her family was premised on the Irish policy that expects Non-EU/EEA citizens coming into the country as a family to possess €107k in their account.

Non-EU/EEA means people from outside of the European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA) also referred to as ‘third country’ or ‘non-EEA’ nationals.

The mother of one said she tried to appeal the policy but the embassy allegedly failed to make any decision on her request for over a year.

In the thread, the lawyer said she has given up on the scholarship and deregistered her programme from SETU over the “deeply discriminatory & systematically racist family visa process”.

“So many emotions today. Officially gave up my fully funded scholarship & deregistered from my Ph.D. programme @SETUIreland after over 1 year of agonizing visa applications/appeals with @IrlEmbNigeria. Hurt by such a deeply discriminatory & systematically racist family visa process,” she wrote.

So many emotions today. Officially gave up my fully funded scholarship & deregistered from my PhD programme @SETUIreland after over 1 year of agonizing visa applications/appeals with @IrlEmbNigeria. Hurt by such a deeply discriminatory & systematically racist family visa process.

— Ola Abagun (@TheOlaAbagun) January 11, 2023

“My study visa was approved in November 2021, but that of my (then) 10-month-old child and husband were denied. The only ground for the denial was “inadequate finances” despite my guaranteed €64k non-taxable stipend over 4 years and eligibility to take on paid teaching hours.

“VO referred to a very classist Irish policy on Non-EEA “family reunification” that required my family of 3 to demonstrate that we had over €107k available to us simply because we are Non-EU/EEA citizens. How many grad students in the world have €107k sitting idly in a corner?

“My amazing supervisors supported me to carry on my PhD research remotely while we immediately appealed the visa decisions in December 2021. For over 1 year @IrlEmbNigeria did not make a decision on the appeals, despite my escalation to Ministers @HMcEntee & @SimonHarrisTD

“It deeply hurts me to say goodbye to my brilliant supervisors, a research project I cared about so much, & a competitive scholarship that I applied for barely 2 months postpartum and absolutely deserve. I am calling out this unjust system that has FORCED me to do this

“A system that expects me to either show €107k or leave my 10-month-old behind for 4 years. A system that failed to decide an appeal for over a year for no viable reason. The utter disrespect and lack of empathy is jarring.

“Thanks for your support @NonEUPhdsociety! I hope that you succeed in your advocacy efforts for just policies for NonEU PhD researchers and their families in Ireland.”