Emdee Tiamiyu, a Nigerian youtuber who claimed in an interview with the BBC that students from his country do not go to the UK for higher education but rather for greener pastures, has now revealed his reasoning for the claim.

Suella Braverman, the British Home Secretary, said in a statement on Tuesday that Nigerians and other overseas students will not be allowed to bring dependents into the UK beginning in January 2024. This announcement drew harsh criticism on social media for the youtuber.

In a previous interview with the BBC, Emdee Tiamiyu claimed, "It's not like [Nigerian students] need the degree; they need the degree as an access route to enter the country. As a result, a lot of these people's objectives changed very quickly; it's no longer primarily about their education.

Shortly after the UK banned international students from bringing in dependents, a clip of the interview went viral.

The YouTuber received criticism, with many criticizing his claim.

Tiamiyu claimed he made the claim because he was being "real" while speaking with popular Nigerian media personality Daddy Freeze through Instagram Live Session.

He said, “I do know I would have to find the balance between being real and being diplomatic. If you want to be real, you will offend people. People don dey curse you since because you were mentioning why are they japaring [migrating abroad]…”

In addition, Daddy Freeze remarked that the place in which the youtuber said his thing was improper.