An update from the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) reveals that the first batch of Nigerians has arrived Abuja from Ukraine.
The announcement was made on Friday, 4th March via the commission’s official Twitter account.
The commission also revealed that most of the evacuees are students affected by the ongoing crisis between Russia and Ukraine. The update by the NIDCOM also highlighted that the students arrived at the Nnamdi International Airport by exactly 7:10 am from Romania.
Leading the evacuation is Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Godfrey Onyeama alongside Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouk and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Zubairu Dada. This is after Nigeria’s President Muhammadu had approved the quick disbursement of $8.5m for the evacuation of stranded Nigerians affected by the crisis.
The federal government had also solicited two top Nigerian airlines – Air Peace Airlines and Max Air Airlines – to lead in the evacuation.
InvestorsKing recalls that the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Gabriel Aduda, had earlier disclosed that about 2,090 Nigerians will return to Nigeria from Ukraine on Thursday, 3rd March after finding their way to Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia. The Ambassador revealed that the chattered flights from the airlines will depart on Wednesday, March 2, 2022, to pick up Nigerian evacuees back home.
Although it wasn’t revealed how many Nigerians were in the first batch of evacuees, this update is coming up a day later after the expected arrival date. Also, it is important to note that most of the evacuees in the first batch are students – this leaves room for more insight into the process the Nigerian government and the NIDCOM have employed in ensuring the safe return of Nigerians stranded in Ukraine.
While undoubtedly, this is a good move, the Nigerian government still needs to put in more effort to show readiness in situations like the Russia-Ukraine crisis and also in the rehabilitation of returned Nigerians.
Just like the Speaker of The House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, in his statement, called for legislative measures to ensure readiness in crisis, there should also be legislative measures enacted to help these evacuated Nigerians to successfully integrate back into society.
