Youtuber, Tiamiyu tenders apology for ‘japa’ comment on BBC interview

Emdee Tiamiyu, a Nigerian Youtuber, has apologised over his comment about Nigerian students studying in the United Kingdom.

Tiamiyu, who is based in the UK, had in an interview with BBC, claimed that most Nigerian students coming to country are not after degrees but immigration.

The Youtuber made the apology in a video he shared on his YouTube account on Wednesday, following the backlash he faced after the interview.

He had initially maintained that he meant everything he said in the interview, noting that, “the student route is more like an answered prayer. It is a big bracket that’s able to take a lot of people, the ordinary people.

“We’re beginning to see that a lot of people just hide behind the studentship. So the student thing is not real, it’s not like they need the degrees,” he added.

“I am grateful for being one of the leading voices. I may not be popular. I am not even looking for popularity as long as I have an impact. We have changed lives. God help us with information. Maybe we do a space for that.

“If you have not been on my page before and now you want to shine, are you serious? If you want to shine, ask BBC to interview you too. I mean every word that I say. I talk real, I am very very real. DJ Real is learning from me. I am very humane and personable.”

However, speaking later in a video he shared on Wednesday morning, he apologised saying that he granted the interview to speak on the challenges that the black community genuinely face.

He said, “I am doing this from the reflections and the truthfulness of my heart that you have seen in the interview/ news feature. Please, I am sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused you.

“If what you have seen being circulated has made you uncomfortable in any way at all, I am sorry, deeply and sincerely sorry.

“And why do I say sorry, because for whatever pain that you feel, I feel even more, because if I meet you in person, if we were able to sit in the same space, probably engage, there is nothing in my heart for you other than love, progress and positive support. People who know me in the world know that this is what I have got.

“There is no other motivation than to grant an interview to speak on the challenges that we genuinely face as a black community back at home and also in the UK.”