Nigerians including students living in the war-hit Ukraine are appealing to the government of Nigeria to evacuate them as they were stuck amid the Russian invasion and the closure of Ukrainian airspace.
This is as a former Nigerian Ambassador to Mexico, Ogbole Amedu-Ode, said Russia sees the neutralization of a perceived existential threat (Ukraine joining NATO) as a categorical imperative and therefore, cared less about the threat of sanctions.
Russia Thursday invaded Ukraine and on Friday, its president, Vladimir Putin, called on the Ukrainian army to overthrow the government of President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Putin was enraged by the prospect of NATO bases next to his borders saying that Ukraine joining the US-led transatlantic alliance would mark the crossing of a red line.
Following the outbreak of war, Nigerians in that country are trapped, confused and scared as no help was coming to them.
Over the last two decades, Ukraine has emerged as a choice destination for African students, especially those in medicine-related fields, because it is said to be cheaper compared with elsewhere in Europe, and the United States.
An estimated 4,000 Nigerians were studying in tertiary institutions across Ukraine in 2020, according to data from the government – the highest number of African nationals there, along with Morocco.
Ahead of Russia’s invasion on Thursday, more than a dozen European and Asian countries were urging their citizens to leave Ukraine. The United States, Canada, Germany, Australia and other countries have evacuated members of their diplomatic staff and their families. But even after the invasion, no African country has announced concrete plans for the evacuation of its citizens.
Though the House of Representatives, in a tweet, assured that it would “shoulder the immediate evacuation of Nigerian students from Ukraine”, there was nothing concrete from the federal government towards evacuating them.
Popular Nigerian pastor in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, Sunday Adelaja, who described himself as ‘personal enemy of Putin for close to 20 years, has sent SOS to the world.
Vanguard
