The recent efforts by the federal government to evacuate the 4000 or more Nigerian students and others caught up in the war in Ukraine, back home is commendable and indeed necessary.
With many foreigners trapped in Ukraine as the Russian invasion began in February, issues of discrimination, mostly against foreigners, manifested, with many being denied access to flee the conflict. A viral video of Nigerian students begging Ukrainian soldiers to let them flee to safety was viewed many times and generated a lot of reactions in the country.
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Even President Muhammadu Buhari tweeted his frustration with the treatment of Nigerians and other Africans attempting to flee mostly into Poland to escape the invasion.
“All who flee a conflict situation have the same right to safe passage under the UN Convention and the colour of their passport or their skin should make no difference,” the president had said in a Tweet.
This is even more shocking and pointedly offensive when Ukrainian nationals are being allowed access to transport facilities and even easier access to neighbouring countries to flee.
While we condemn the war, as any explosion of human conflict will inevitably lead to avoidable loss of lives, we also categorically condemn the discrimination that Nigerians and other Africans attempting to flee the conflict have been and are being subjected to.
We commend the federal government for taking measures and going over and beyond to commence the evacuation of Nigerians in the conflict zone. Interventions like this assure Nigerians that the government does have the wellbeing of citizens, wherever they may be, at heart.
We urge the government to step up the operation and ensure that all Nigerians are quickly removed from the conflict zone and brought back to safety in their motherland as soon as that is possible. The longer the conflict lasts, the more risk these Nigerians are going to be exposed to.
To this end, we commend the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, under the stewardship of Abike Dabiri for being responsive to the plight of Nigerians in the diaspora and for duly giving assurance to their relatives and loved ones in Nigeria, about their safe return.
We call on the commission to keep a close eye on the operation, keep a diligent headcount and ensure that not a single Nigerian, or African if they can be accommodated, is left to face the perils of war.
We recognise that such operations are time-sensitive and resource-intensive. We, therefore, call on the relevant authorities to ensure that the operations are carried out professionally, efficiently and humanely.
To this end, it would be considerate of the government to consider offering some form of counselling for returnees to ensure that they are in a sound physical and mental state. Exposure to violence, discrimination and abuse has often left many people scarred for life. The authorities will need to ensure that that is not the case with these returnees. Seeing that most of those evacuated are students, the federal government needs to take a serious look at the education system in Nigeria, so that only people who really need to travel out of the country do so.
Furthermore, the government should monitor all aspects of this operation to ensure accountability and financial frugality. The model of the operations can then be documented and perfected should there be a future need to reactivate the protocols and evacuate Nigerians from another conflict zone.
We can see how the Ebola Protocols proved useful when adapted to the then emergent COVID-19 pandemic early in 2020. Therefore, close attention should be paid to the execution of this operation and hitches and missteps that will naturally occur are noted and addressed.
We also appreciate the non-profit organisations and other governments and institutions that partnered with the Nigerian government to make this evacuation possible. Partnerships like this are luminescent reminders of the values of human interactions in desperate times and remind us of the duty of kindness and care we owe each other.
The federal government must not forget to extend its appreciation to these partners.
While hoping that the conflict in Ukraine comes to a quick and amicable resolution to avoid further loss of lives, we appeal to Nigerians to avoid being drawn into the conflict by volunteering to fight as mercenaries in another country’s war. The Nigerian government must step up efforts to close the channels these wannabe mercenaries could exploit to access the front. War is indeed a test of character for people and governments.
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