The ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine has further underscored the need for a consistent bail-out strategy by African countries with regard to the early evacuation of their citizens from imminent crisis in a host country.
Whereas the United States, Britain, France, Australia and even India were reported to have long shipped out their citizens and diplomatic staff from Kyiv, Nigeria and her continental siblings with sizeable citizens presence in Ukraine simply opted to await the arrival of Russian tanks and fighter aircraft – by which time the airports had already been shut and roads were clogged with huge traffic of fleeing households.
For the US and others, there is usually a round-the-clock monitoring of any brewing crisis wherever in the world. At the point such crisis begins to deepen (even though most are secretly sponsored by these world powers), they issue travel advisories warning their citizens against travelling to such hot spots while also making plans to ensure that those already there are safely evacuated.
But, not so for Nigeria. The authorities in Abuja had hesitated, apparently assuming that President Vladimir Putin was merely acting a Russian movie script by amassing for weeks tanks and troops at his country’s border with Ukraine.
According to some of the trapped Nigerian students in different parts of the beleaguered country, they had to trek for tens of kilometres toward the borders of Poland, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia as was belatedly instructed by the Nigerian Foreign Affairs Ministry. They suffered from hunger and extreme cold, sometimes sleeping in tents without mats and blankets.
Some of those who made it early to the borders narrated how they were denied immediate passage and had to spend more days in camps on the officials’ insistence that Ukrainian refugees be accorded priority in the crossing routine. Upon crossing eventually, communication became another strain as there were hardly any Nigerian embassy officials to receive them according as promised; neither were the supplied phone numbers connecting. This had, therefore, forced many of them to trek great distances or hitch a lift to Warsaw, especially for those in Poland.
A Nigerian female student reported being barred by a Ukrainian woman from boarding a train specifically designated to transport women, the elderly and children to friendly border posts.
With all these stories, therefore, anybody can imagine my chagrin when it was reported that a large number of able-bodied Nigerian men (some claiming to be war veterans) had filed out for days at the Ukrainian Embassy in Abuja literally begging to be transported to go join in defending Kyiv against the Russians. They were obviously not aware that over 122,000 of their compatriots alongside other Africans had gathered at the Polish, Romanian and Hungarian cusps to protest against Ukrainians’ discrimination against Africans and other people of colour who were also attempting to flee the Russian aggression. Or could these Nigerian men have opted to place whatever their pecuniary expectations from such undertaking above everything else; notwithstanding how their pursuit would imperil the lives of Nigerians living in Russia?
Another thrilling news about all this is that the federal government has finally released the sum of $8.5 million for the evacuation of Nigerians leaving Ukraine and that, so far, no casualties have been reported. But even so, I am discouraged that the two indigenous airlines contracted to airlift these apparently distraught passengers back home have returned with less than full loads. And I ask why? Were those all the Nigerian returnees they could find in the four transit countries? Or have these airlines devised to make as many trips as they possibly can in order to maximise their takings from the repatriation fund?
It was said that Nigeria had about 4,000 students undergoing various trainings, mostly in medicine, engineering and aeronautics in Ukraine. She was believed to rank second to Morocco with over 8,000, and followed by Egypt.
The main thrust of this write-up is that Nigeria should reach beyond its perennial fire-brigade approach to securing her citizens abroad in times of major upheavals. For instance, just as she appears to be establishing a grip on the Ukrainian situation, reports have emerged which suggest that the Nigerian community in South Africa has petitioned President Cyril Ramaphosa to protect them and their properties against a developing wave of xenophobic attack by armed mobs.
According to President of the Nigerian Union in South Africa (NUSA), Collins Mgbo, 62 foreigners lost their lives to such attacks in 2008, while the figure for 2015 was seven. In 2019, another mob attack claimed 12 lives.
Recall that the 2019 incident resulted in the federal government arranging with Air Peace to airlift 600 Nigerians back from Johannesburg; even if so belatedly.
During the COVID-19 global lockdown in 2020, the Nigerian government reportedly assured its citizens stranded in China of ongoing evacuation arrangements, but insisted that the people should be ready to pay for their flight. Haba!
As for the unfortunate Nigerian migrants who were slaving it out in some European, North African and Middle East homes, their eventual repatriations had been mostly as a result of the interventions of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) than any deliberate consular effort by their home government.
In short, it is high time Nigeria improved on how she responds to her distressed citizens, especially those resident abroad.

By: Ibelema Jumbo