Where to now for students who fled the war in Ukraine?

Scores of Nigerian students have fled or been evacuated from Ukraine over the past week, either back to their home country or to other countries in the European Union. Efforts are under way to evacuate several who are still trapped. For many students, this has been a harrowing experience, and most now face an uncertain future where their education is concerned.

Approximately 4,300 Nigerian students study in the eastern European country, the fifth-largest number (5.4%) of the 80,000 international students in Ukraine, according to data from Ukraine’s ministry of education and science.

Previously, students have said that Ukrainian education’s appeal lies mostly in its affordability, a better standard of life and a safe environment.

Racial discrimination at the border

A third-year medical student at Ternopil National Medical University who asked to be identified simply as Aanu, said she left Ternopil on 25 February 2022, a day after explosions were heard in Ukraine’s capital, Kiev.

“As explosions were heard, a curfew was imposed on Ternopil. My friends and I could not go out to buy food. We were starving because no stores were open and taxi operators didn’t work. We had a sleepless night,” Aanu recalled.

The following morning, Aanu said, they left Ternopil for the Romanian border. Due to the lack of taxi services, the group joined thousands of people trekking for hours to get to the border. Here, they experienced racial discrimination, Aanu said. It was about 4pm and everyone was asked to wait outside. Four hours later, Ukrainian immigration officers told them that only Ukrainians would be allowed in [to Romania] first, Aanu said.

She pleaded with the officers that she was cold and feeling sick because of the snow, but they turned a deaf ear, Aanu said. “They didn’t care. They wanted only Ukrainians inside first,” she said. At about 2am, Aanu and a few foreign black students were eventually allowed to cross the border.

Once she made it to Romania, however, Aanu said the officers were friendly. She was able to relax in a shelter for refugees until 2 March 2022 when she was evacuated to Nigeria.

“War isn’t a good thing, and I hope the Russian and Ukrainian governments eventually come to an amicable solution because I definitely would return to Ukraine when the war is over,” she said.

Sleepless nights for union president

Another student for whom staying in Nigeria is not an option even though she has been traumatised by the war, is Eunice Eleaka, acting president of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) in Ukraine.

A fourth-year student at Bogomolets National Medical University in Kiev, Eleaka told University World News that a better learning environment, infrastructure and good standard of living will prompt her to return when the war is over.

After monitoring “tons” of American intelligence reports that Russian forces would invade Ukraine, Eleaka fled to Nigeria on 17 February 2022, a week before the invasion started.

“The signs were always there. The tension between Russia and Ukraine has always brewed. But, a month prior to the invasion, the tension escalated. I have a friend who has been studying the Russia-Ukraine conflict since 2014. He predicted that the likelihood of an invasion was big this time around and advised me to get a flight ticket,” Eleaka said.

“I did, and so did some of my friends. I also advised fellow Nigerian and African students to buy tickets and flee the country. I guess some did, because I have an Ethiopian friend who left Kiev a day before bombs started exploding in the city.”

From her home in Nigeria, Eleaka said she watched as Russian missiles destroyed Ukrainian cities. She said she organised and monitored – with the assistance of Nigerian embassies – how Nigerian students caught up in the war were evacuated and taken to safety in Romania, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary.

“Friends told me how they had sleepless nights and, at some points, cried, seeing explosions in Kiev,” Eleaka said, adding that the accounts of her fellow students have affected her mental health.

“I was traumatised when the invasion started. The burden on my shoulders as the NANS president in Ukraine caused some stress. A parent called me amid the invasion and told me: ‘I lost my husband last year, and now I’m going to lose my child.’

“Her words pierced my soul and I didn’t even know how to comfort her. I could imagine how my mum would feel if I was in Ukraine at that time,” she said.

Stable networks, electricity appealing

Eleaka now has to decide whether to wait for the war to end and return to Ukraine or go to another country to start her studies all over again.

“Initially, my school organised online learning, but it has been suspended. I think they will find a way around it soon; they will try to keep the classes going because education contributes a major percentage to Ukraine’s GDP,” she said.

“I missed Nigeria when I was in Ukraine, but after coming back, I am already missing Ukraine. Having to subscribe for mobile data every two weeks is frustrating; the network is also unstable. The weather is harsh, and the electricity here in Nigeria is unstable. In Ukraine, I don’t exhaust my data subscription, even when I do the basic plan. Electricity is also 24 hours a day over there. Staying back in Nigeria is obviously not an option.

“I don’t know what the future holds for Ukraine, but I’m hoping to get a better place to move to. I would miss Ukraine; it was home to me for four years. I know a lot of students won’t return there. Sometimes, when I think about it, I feel down, but then life moves on,” she said.

Though many Nigerian students have been evacuated, University World News learned that some foreign students are still trapped in towns such as Haisyn and Kherson.

“One, Victor Oluwa, a Nigerian student, contacted me from a remote town called Haisyn a few days ago. Oluwa is in a navy school there, and I have informed the authorities,” Eleaka said. She also shared an SOS message from a Nigerian student in Kherson.

The message from the student reads: “Hello house, it’s another day to remind you all that our lives are on the line now. Our people are already on the edge of passing out due to hunger, we can’t get across to all the foreigners because of no network. Please don’t forget us here, we are pleading.”

On 2 March 2022, Nigeria joined the league of countries embarking on multiple evacuations to bring their nationals home and announced a budget of US$8.5 million for the purpose.

Approximately 1,200 citizens, including students, have so far been evacuated, Gabriel Odu, spokesperson for Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, a government agency assisting with the evacuations, told University World News.

Many students stay in Europe

Many Nigerian students also fled to EU countries, not wanting to return home to Nigeria, the country’s foreign affairs minister, Geoffrey Onyeama, recently disclosed.

Investigations by University World News found this to be true. A first-year medical student at Ternopil National Medical University, David Okunlola, said it is best for him to “hang around” and see what happens before deciding whether to return to Nigeria or not.

Okunlola, who is the vice-president of Nigerian Students in Ukraine (NSU), said that he left Ternopil for Budapest, Hungary’s capital, on 1 March 2022. Fortunately, he said, he did not experience the stress and racism that many international students complained about.

“I left Ternopil late because of my responsibilities. As the vice-president of the students’ union, I had to stay to assist with the evacuation. Eventually, I left Ternopil and moved through the Lónya border. I left for Budapest, where I still am. I am staying with a family friend. I know some 40 Nigerian students are also staying in shelters in Budapest, and they are comfortable,” Okunlola said.

He added that Nigerian students have also found their way to Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. “There has been huge support for students and everyone,” he said.

Okunlola added that he would be returning to Ukraine from Budapest when the war is over, “which I hope happens soon”.

Local universities wooing evacuated students

There are indications that some parents concerned about their children’s safety may not allow them to return to Ukraine or elsewhere to study.

“My son was among those evacuated by the government last week. I am happy he is back safely. He is a second-year student at Kharkiv National Medical University. He is done studying overseas; I can’t cope with the high blood pressure that comes with not knowing if your child is safe in a foreign land. I will enrol him in a private university here in Nigeria,” a parent, who wishes to remain anonymous, told University World News.

Picking up on the sentiment, it seems as if several local private universities have started wooing concerned parents to enrol their children.

For example, the American University of Nigeria in Yola, Adamawa state in north-eastern Nigeria, has invited the evacuated students to consider enrolling at the institution, stating that, rather than flying abroad for university education, the university would meet their needs.

“Having fled the war in Europe to safely rejoin your families and loved ones under these traumatic circumstances must certainly have been a frightening time for you all. Like all of Nigeria, we rejoice that you have been able to return safe and sound,” the university’s executive director of communications, Daniel Okereke, said in a statement.

Okereke said that AUN is a “safe, diverse, cosmopolitan and well-resourced university, with an excellent digital library, organised on the US model of higher education”, and that it may meet the students’ immediate needs.

Jesusegun Alagbe is an online editor and award-winning journalist, writer and researcher.