By Olakunle Agboola – “I would rather die in Ukraine than find my way to Nigeria. To do what? I have lost all hope in that country when my parents were murdered by a hired assassin right in my presence in 2019. I fled for my life and I promised not to come back again”
These are the words of Bodunde Adeniyi, a University student in Kyiv who promised to turn down the opportunity of traveling back to Nigeria and will rather die in Ukraine if there are no better options of relocation.
Thousands of foreign students like Bodunde are caught up in the crisis in Ukraine, where Russia invades forces early Thursday. The country had more than 76,500 international students as of 2020, Nigeria’s Premium Times website reported, citing data from Ukraine’s Ministry of Education and Sciences. Also, Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs website said the country has more than 240 universities, drawing international students from more than 150 countries every year.
Janeth Ababio is one out of many African students that is not willing to go back to their home countries. Some of them are afraid of starting all over again and won’t like to be cut off from better opportunities in Europe.
“It has not been easy since Putin declared War on Ukraine. I had worked miles for safety because the cities are not safe. The beauty of it is that most of the African students are sticking together in batches. It is looking like the only option here is to go back to my home country Ghana but I don’t think I am ready to explore the option and that is why I am finding my way to Poland. Pray for us. … I hope this war can end soon. We need peace,”
Leaving the conflict area has become difficult. Ukrainian authorities closed at least three of the country’s airports to commercial traffic. Major roads and highways have been clogged with vehicles fleeing major cities, according to local reports.
Across Africa, parents/guidance have been mounting pressure on the government admonishing for the swift safety of the students studying in Ukraine and Russia. The National Union of Kenya Students had issued a statement urging the federal government in Nairobi to accelerate efforts in ensuring the safety of all Kenyan students in Ukraine and Russia.
The student union of Ghana also had asked the government to find a way to evacuate students from Ukraine’s eastern provinces, as well as from Russia, as the country may pose an overall hostile environment for African students.
On Thursday, Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted a statement on social media that it would help facilitate Nigerians’ evacuation as soon as airports have reopened. More than 5,000 Nigerians are studying in Ukraine, according to local news sources.
At the time of this report, Bodunde Adeniyi is on his way to the Ukraine border trying to find his way to Poland. Poland has not been an easy entry to a lot of Africans and the Nigerian government has condemned the treatment of thousands of its students and citizens facing discrimination by security officials and being denied entry into the country.
A deluge of reports and 7 footage posted on social media in the past week has shown acts of discrimination and violence against African, Asian and Caribbean citizens – many of them studying in Ukraine – while fleeing Ukrainian cities and at some of the country’s border posts.
John Badu, a Ghanaian citizen and social commentator living in the UK criticized the discrimination of African students at the border, which he feels Ukraine’s soldiers could have shown a heart of humanity rather than racism.
“ Ukraine/Russia war is telling us to come together and fix the continent. As I am talking to you now, we have had many African students who have died along the Ukraine border trying to find their way to Poland and other neighboring countries. Some were exhausted and fainted walking all day without water and food. Just very sad.
We once had Europeans coming to Africa to study and is not like that anymore. The majority of our youths are leaving for Europe using education as an escape route and more reasons the school fees are very high for international students. We have wasted so much money on foreign education and it is time we start thinking about investing in our educational systems which start with our leaders having a re-think of not sending their kids to study abroad”.
Peter Ajao, a Nigerian medical student at a Ukrainian university who made it into Poland, said stranded international students without proper clothing for cold were falling unconscious from hypothermia.
Sandra, also a medical student at the Ukrainian University chooses not to disclose her surname. She is a Ghanaian who by chance made it to Poland as she attested to the ongoing ill discrimination at the Ukraine border coupled with a lot of African students whom she saw vomiting and passing out without waking up.
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