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United Kingdom has become a preferred destination for most Nigerian students seeking education following no clear cut government policy and subsequent rot in the sector.  Intelligence reports reveal that the number of Nigerian students seeking education abroad especially in the UK has increased in the last few years as over N245.6 billion is sucked from the economy for the payment of tuition fees and upkeep of the students.   Though the former manager of the Education/UK partnership at the British Council, Akin Alamu, who confided in BusinessDay, however, did not give the exact current figure of the number of Nigerian students studying in UK schools, but as at last year, there were over 27,000 Nigerian students studying in the UK higher schools.  Out of this number, about 15,000 students were estimated to be in post graduate schools while about 12,000 were calculated to be undergraduates and in certificate courses in various schools.  The exact number of students in various courses was not available, but according to statistics on tuition released by the former manager, social science undergraduates pay between 9-13 thousand pounds annually, engineering students pay an average of 15,000 pounds while dentistry and other medical undergraduate students pay about 30,000 pounds annually.  For post graduate social science students, he said, they pay about 11,000 pounds; MBA students pay 13,000 pounds and above; engineering students pay between 12,000 and 18,000 pounds while medical post graduate students tuition is about 27, 000 pounds annually.  According to Alamu, each of the 27,000 students spends about N2.5 million annually for upkeep. Using 27,000 pounds as an average tuition for all the students, it is therefore calculated that all the students inject over N245.6 billion into UK economy annually.  Alamu said that the Nigerian students in the post primary schools were not captured, but every year about 12,000 Nigerian students leave for UK for studies some of whom do short term programmes.   This fact was buttressed by director of the British Council in Nigeria, Peter Upton, who said last year that “Nigeria is the powerhouse of West Africa and one of the leading economies in sub-Saharan Africa. It is already one of the top ten sources of international students for British universities and colleges. It sends more than 12,000 students a year for further and higher education courses in the UK”.  A former staff of British Council confirmed to BusinessDay that the number of students seeking the Golden Fleece has increased in the last 10 years. According to the official, UK tops among other preferred countries such as Canada, Australia, South Africa, Ghana, and Malaysia.. Early this year, the Economist Intelligence Unit predicted that the number of students studying abroad will increase 10 fold in the next five years from over 40,000.  On why Nigerian students prefer UK education, the former president of Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN), Samuel Nzekwe, attributed it to the fact that UK education system runs curricula similar to that of Nigeria’s education system, and the common instruction language shared by both countries. Nzekwe is of the view that Nigerian students would continue to seek foreign education in the face of continuous dilapidation of infrastructure in Nigeria’s education system and government’s neglect of the sector.. Nzekwe further laments that a paltry N53 billion was allocated for capital projects in 2010 budget for the education sector which is the bedrock of development. “If we must diversify the economy, why favour consumption over investment. With less emphasis on education, we are not talking of moving forward”, he said. Responding to the N53.6 billion for education in the budget proposal for 2010, the ASUU branch chairman, Imo State University, Owerri, Nwalu Vitalis, noted that the budget does not in anyway come close to the statutory requirement set by UNESCO for education development.  To check the fall in education standard, Nwalu opines that the government should focus primarily on the issue of policy implementation, regretting that over the years, successive governments lack clear policy on education.