Ikeja –  Gov. Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State on Saturday decried the high demand of Nigerians for education abroad.

Fashola, who spoke at a youth stakeholders forum in Ikeja, said that the trend  had dire consequences on the nation`s economy.

The governor said that the craze for study abroad, apart from undermining the nation’s education sector, had impacted negatively on the country`s trade balance with the receiving countries.

He said that Nigerians going to Europe or elsewhere for education were taking so much out of the economy, adding that the sent capital abroad  which could have been used to develop economy.

The governor said that the practice had resulted in the creation of massive jobs in the benefiting economies in the face of high unemployment rate in Nigeria.

Fashola said that there was need for a check on the trend.

This, he said, could be achieved by boosting capacity of local educational institutions  as well as the development of new ones to address the problem of the demand-supply deficit in the nation`s university system.

Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the CBN Governor had at a recent forum in Kaduna said that 71,000 Nigerians studying in Ghana spent N155 billion on school fees in the neighbouring country.

He said that this was much more than the N121 billion annual budget for all the federal universities, describing the situation as worrisome.

The forum was organised by After Graduate Development Centre (AGDC) in partnership with the Lagos State Government to mobilise and sensitise youths on national development. (NAN)