Gboyega Alaka in this piece, attempted to track the progress of Nigerian students, mostly medical students, who made their way to safety in Bucharest, Romania, following Ukraine’s invasion by Russia.
He also spoke with some volunteer Nigerians, the Nigerian Ambassador to Romania and an apprehensive parent.
“It’s a really terrifying situation out there. A Tanzanian was killed. No, he actually died of hypothermia, which was due to the cold arising from the long wait at the border. There was another African; he also died of hypothermia. It’s extremely cold in that region now. I don’t know any African that has been killed in the attacks, though. I also don’t know of any Nigerian that has died directly from the attack. But people have died of cold and starvation. I didn’t eat for about three days and was running on no sleep.
But then, we were trying to survive.”
The above are words of Vivian Rapheal, a 20-year-old Nigerian medical student, studying at the Kyiv Medical School, as she attempted to capture the predicament of Nigerians, Ukrainians and other nationals, as they made to escape to safety from the under attack Ukraine.
Of course, she was not spared of the impact of the cold, she said, but her state of mind spared her.
“I get cold easily, but I guess because I had adrenalin, I didn’t feel anything because I wasn’t thinking of myself. All that occupied my mind was how to get to safety. It was when I got to Romania that I realised that my entire skin was red, my feet were numb and I had rashes.
“My parents back in Nigeria were restless, but I tried to put their minds at rest by constant communication. I was in communication with them throughout my journey. Like every parent, they were scared, but I guess they had faith that we would be okay. I tried the best I could to save my battery too, so I could keep in touch with them. I charged it on the train and with my laptop.”
Recalling how she managed to get out of the troubled country, Vivian said, “The invasion started Thursday and we left Kyiv on Friday afternoon – I was with my sister and a friend. The train from Kyiv to Lyviv took about 15 hours because they were trying to find the safest routes. I got to Lyviv 8 am the next day. We had booked a train from Lviv to Uzhgorod but the train didn’t come on time. And since we didn’t want to waste any much time waiting because it was dangerous, we booked a taxi from Lyviv train station to Uzhgorod. We got to Uzhgorod in the evening of Saturday at 4 pm because there was traffic. My friend suggested that we rest in the hotel, but I didn’t feel like sleeping in Ukraine that day, so I tried my luck and got a taxi to Santa Mari County, Romania. The taxi driver wanted to drop us at some distance, but we were begging and praying; we even offered to pay him extra. So he took us as close as he could to the passport control of Ukraine. And then we walked to the border.”
Of the invasion, Vivian said the attack started in Kyiv, the capital, but they were also attacking Sumy; so people were trapped there. And then of course Kharkov, which is like the Lagos of Ukraine.
The case of Sumy is particularly pathetic, she said, because the city is on the eastern part of Ukraine and shares a border with Russia. They had destroyed their rail system, meaning there was no way for the people there to come out.
As at the time of this interview (Wednesday), Vivian said she didn’t know of anyone who had been able to get out of that city. She also acknowledged that there was a significant number of Africans there.
Would it not be better for them to escape into Russia then?
To this, she replied: “I don’t know if it makes sense to escape into the enemy country attacking you.” Asked if she experienced any form of discrimination as has been reported on cable TV stations, Vivian said,” None whatsoever,” she replied,” adding, “They were friendly, offering water, hot drinks and food.”
Asked to assess the effort of the Nigerian government and the volunteer groups, Vivian said,” I think they’ve done the barest minimum. As we speak, I’m in a hotel, the Nigerian embassy paid for it.” We didn’t think much of it Uthman Ismail and Badmus Abdullai, both 20-year-olds and Year 1 students of Kyiv Medical School, didn’t think much of the altercation between the two countries until the early hours of Wednesday when the first barrage of bombs started landing in Kyiv, blasting buildings and rocking the foundation of their skyscraper campus hostel.
Recalled Badmus, “The first three bomb blasts, I didn’t actually hear because I was sleeping until someone came to wake me up. I even thought he was joking until I heard another one after a while.
That really reverberated and I was really scared. I thought this was no joke anymore. I was on the 7 the floor and I quickly went to the ground floor and saw fellow students, Ukrainians, moving out. Even then, some of us still thought it was a one-off attack and it would pass.” Uthman actually thought it a rumour and never imagined it would snowball into what was unfolding and see them traverse hundreds of miles to take refuge in Bucharest, Romania.
“I actually thought it was a joke until I heard that first bomb blast around 4-5 am on Thursday. What further registered the enormity of the situation in me was when I saw Ukrainian students living for their homes. That left us stranded.”
Funny enough, Uthman said even the Ukrainians didn’t appear to take the threats of war seriously and went about their normal activities.
Once the reality dawned, it didn’t take both friends, who said they travelled together, long to take a decision. They actually wanted to go to Poland but changed their mind when they couldn’t access the train. It took them 35 hours, but they made it to Romania; first by train, and then courtesy of a Bolt taxi from Uzhgorod. The train was free whilst they paid for the taxi. Some good people in Romania also sent money to help facilitate their passage, they revealed.
At the time of this interview, there was no news of any Nigerian casualty, but they were aware that some people were still stuck in the city.
Asked if he would be willing to be evacuated to Nigeria, despite the risk of losing the time he had put into his studies, Uthman said, “Yes, I came here to study. When the war is over, I can always come back to complete my studies. As I speak, we have 15 days’ holidays but from what we are hearing, it is not something likely to end anytime soon.”
Recalling the terror in the atmosphere as they traveled, Badmus said “Everybody was scared. Even the Ukranians! We tried to communicate with them, but since they didn’t speak English, we had to let them be. I wasn’t so terrified initially; I was even doing videos. But when they started blowing the siren and telling us to go into the bomb shelter, I began thinking,” Guy, this is very serious.”
He expressed joy to have made it to Bucharest. “We feel safe here. It’s actually a nice place. And for the first time in almost ten months, we ate swallow. They call it grish. It’s like semo. We ate it with Igbo soup.”
Even dangerous situations come with their advantages.
However, even before the Russian invasion, Badmus said he had always nursed a hope of leaving Ukraine. “I just wanted a better place,” he said.
On the news of discrimination, the young man said, “I would not call it discrimination. They were just giving preference to women and kids.”
His friend, Uthman, is however just glad to be out of Ukraine. He also had some good words for the Nigerian government, through its embassy. “They surpassed my expectation.”
Like Uthman and Badmus, Onu Bethel, also a Year 1 student of Kyiv Medical School, never thought much of the row between Ukraine and Russia, until that Thursday morning invasion.
According to him, “There was a time we heard that the troops were being withdrawn; so we thought there would be a diplomatic solution. We heard countries were meditating and trying to settle it. Of course, if I knew it would get to this, I would have left Ukraine.”
He, however, had no regret about coming to the Eastern European country, stating, “If this didn’t happen, I would most certainly have finished within the six-year time-set. There would have been no interruptions.”
He also said Poland was his first choice of exit but said he ended up wasting too much time trying to get on the train. “I spent two days, actually, before we finally took a train to Uzzhorod en route Romania.”
Of the reception in Romania, Onu said, “They’ve been very helpful and very accommodating.”
On the craze for Kyiv Medical School among Nigerians, Onu volunteered: “I don’t know how credible it is but if you were to check online, the school is rated as the best medical school in Ukraine. It is also cheaper than other medical schools in the Diaspora.”
On the language barrier, all students spoken to said they were taught in English. And even though the Ukrainians aren’t so good at English, they got along with them, using the Google Translate app.
The Ukrainian For Etima Ukpe, a native of Akwa Ibom State, Ukraine is not just a country of study or sojourn but a home, as she kept repeating the phrase, ‘my city, all through the interview. Based in Ivanofrankvisk, West of Ukraine, Ukpe, 30, is a qualified medical doctor, and doing her post-graduate studies, specialising in obstetrics and gynaecology.
She arrived Ukraine in 2013 and graduated in 2019. Her intention, as she stayed back, was to get her post-graduate certificate and relocate to Nigeria; but as it turned out, “It has been easier for me to get into the system since I studied here.”
Recounting what has now become a horror to both indigenes and foreigners, Ukpe said, “I was in my city when it all started. Ivano-Frankivsk is about 12 hours from Kyiv and happened to be the most peaceful and quiet city in Ukraine. You could call it the safest actually. In 2014 when the fight happened in Donetsk, it didn’t affect us; so we thought this too wasn’t going to affect us. But on Thursday morning, I got a call from work that there was no need for me to come because our city had been attacked as well and it was not safe.”
Still, she wasn’t scared and actually thought the worst that could happen would be to seek somewhere to hide. “Then we got information from the mayor that it’s more serious this time, and that everything had stopped. Unlike in the past, shops were not opening, schools were not opening and banks were not opening. Even buses were not running. That was when I realised that this was different,” Ukpe said.
Narrating how she migrated to Bucharest, Romania, Ukpe said, “I belong to a church, so they organised a bus for about 75 of us. At the border, it was tough, but compared to the chaos I heard played out at the Polish border, it was a lot better. The driver dropped us somewhere and we had to walk about three hours to the border gate, where we met a lot of people waiting. I spent about 16 to 19 hours before I could cross. It was pretty cold, but I had doubled up before leaving home.”
Would she be willing to go back home, albeit temporarily, should the Nigerian government make good at its pledge to provide a plane to evacuate Nigerian citizens?
“Yes, I want to be home. Definitely,” was her sharp reply.
What plans does govt have to resettle the returning students?
For Mr Wale Aguda, who said he had two children studying at the National Memorial Medical University, Vinnitsia, Ukraine, his biggest headache was how the children would not lose the years they had put in a medical school. He spoke on this and more in this interview.
How have you managed since news of the invasion broke?
I have two children at National Memorial Medical University in Vinnitisia, Ukraine; the two of them are in Romania as we speak, having crossed through the Syrec border. Majorly, the challenges that Nigerian students encountered was that there was no arrangement to take them from any point within Ukraine to the border, so they had to make arrangements on their own. There was a time they make bookings with the train and it was cancelled, and then they were given different booking. But I didn’t want them to be separated because they are just 18 and 19. Ultimately, it was through the help of their Ghanaian friend that they eventually got a vehicle that took them out of Ukraine.
Fortunately, the Nigerian government is ready to commence the evacuation of Nigerians …
It is not about evacuating them back to Nigeria; what do they have in plan for them, to ensure that they don’t lose the years they have put in. What is in stock for them when they get back to Nigeria or should they stay in Romania and look for other options? Two years of a six-year programme is a lot if you have to repeat.
Would you be willing to have them reintegrated into a Nigerian university?
If that is what is available, we won’t mind. But the issue is that we don’t even know what is going to happen? The other day, I heard the Foreign Affairs Minister said, if you could have money to send your child abroad, you should be able to pay their way back. That, to me, is very unfortunate.
The moment the war broke out, how did you feel as a parent, knowing that your children were out there?
My brother, I have not had the smallest sleep since that Wednesday. I had to monitor every inch of their movement through Google. Thanks to Mr Sanusi, he sent the location map to me and I was monitoring them for more than 36 hours. If there was a break in transmission, it was as if the worst had happened. Thrice on that Thursday, they had to go to underground bunkers to hide when there were bomb attacks.
Nigeria Diaspora 4040 Initiative and other volunteers
NOTABLE among those on the ground to receive and ensure that Nigerians seeking safety from the Russia/Ukraine face-off into Romania settle in as comfortably as possible was Adeniyi Sanusi, Executive Director, Nigeria Diaspora 4040. He and other well-meaning Nigerians like Adebayo Nurudeen, a lawyer and a post-graduate student and a few others, and officials of the Nigerian embassy, were at the border in Bucharest to receive the Nigerians.
According to Adeniyi Sanusi, who facilitated the interviews with some of the respondents in this piece by setting up a zoom meeting, even connecting this writer with the Deputy Ambassador, Mr. Dayo Adeoye, who eventually facilitated an interview with the ambassador, a parent in Nigeria, had petitioned him to help look after his migrating children. That, coupled with his mission in Nigeria Diaspora 4040, meant he couldn’t sit on the fence anyway.
The NGA Diaspora 4040, Sanusi told The Nation, was formed on a social entrepreneurship level, to intensify Migration awareness-raising efforts of NiDCOM (Nigeria in Diaspora commission) and the Nigerian Orientation Agency (NOA). So what we do is to create a platform where Nigerians in the Diaspora can actually communicate directly with Nigerians back home by telling stories.
We have a journal that we are going to launch soon, in which we interviewed 40 Nigerians who have been living in Diaspora during the period 40 years leveraging on the Nigerian emigration trends from 1981 to 2021, where they shared their experiences of what it means to live in the Diaspora. The reason for doing this is to make Nigerians see the realities of living abroad and the challenges. “Our organisation is basically about goal number 10 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 2030 goal number 10.7.2., which is to facilitate regular and orderly migration,” he said.
According to Adebayo Nurudeen, who also spoke via Zoom, “I was one of the reps who was fortunate to be aware of their location and quickly went to welcome them, provide them with one or two things and make them feel at home. We also let the Nigerian authority in Bucharest be aware of their presence in Romania.
“While I would not want to take away any credit due to Nigeria In Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), I would however say that much of what has been done to settle in Nigerians here, has been due to the efforts of Nigerians living in Romania. They have done wonderfully well with the collaborative effort of the Nigerian Embassy here.”
Even though they did not expect the mammoth crowd that came in, Adebayor said they have managed well, even taking in other African citizens.
We’re giving Nigerians good reception – Nuhu
Nigeria’s Ambassador to Romania, Sefia Nuhu, speaks on the quality of reception given to escaping Nigerian students and fellow African nationals.
What have you been doing to get Nigerians in Ukraine to safety and resettled?
Many of the Nigerians that crossed over to Romania got a very good reception at the border of Romania. The Romanian authorities decided to facilitate easy movement of people from the endangered territory to safety. They also extended assistance in terms of provision, food water, even accommodation for 24 hours. For most of them that arrived from Bucharest, the Nigerian embassy had to take up responsibilities for them.
Some of them have complained that there was no convergence point in Ukraine from where the people could gather and be evacuated.
For us, mostly, our responsibility is within the Romanian territory and at the Romanian border. In fact, our staff were unable to cross over to any Ukrainian territory. So, most of the difficulties that those
fleeing from Ukraine experienced were within the Ukrainian territory and borders. Again, part of the reason is the congestion at the borders because of the desperation to come in.
I learnt that some Nigerians were trapped in Sumy, which has been attacked. Is there anything you can do to get these people out to safety?
Like I told you earlier, my responsibility is strictly within Romania; so we would not have access to anyone outside Romania.
We are also hoping there would be a ceasefire so that it will be possible for them to get to safety and also cross over.
What are the provisions you are making for those who have crossed over?
For all those that came over to Romania, we’ve been able to accommodate them, about 900 of them in Bucharest. The first flight to take them back to Nigeria will start tomorrow (Thursday).
Are there any Nigerians who have indicated their unwillingness to return?
We have some who have indicated their intention to stay in Romania or other parts of Europe. A large percentage of Nigerians in Ukraine are students; some of them are in their second, third, even final year, and they wouldn’t want to lose out on the opportunity to complete their studies. Some have indicated an intention not to return but I have not been able to sit with them to know their preferences.
Hon. Abike Dabiri, in a broadcast, said some African countries have petitioned Nigeria to help evacuate their nationals, are you into that?
We have been extending consular services to other Africans that come in from the border. In Romania, there aren’t a lot of African missions; so the Africans that come together in groups are usually taken in buses, and we put them in the same accommodation as our own nationals and give them food and other necessities. Notably, we have extended these services to Ghanaians, Cameroonians, even Egyptians.
There are fears that the war may escalate and even get to Romania?
Well, there is a lot that one cannot predict. Even the way this conflict started is not something easily predictable. It’s something that is based on a lot of factors and uncertainties. So I do believe that there is a lot that would unfold in the next coming week. But we are hoping that the fear does not become reality.
