Nigeria’s Ukraine Student Returnees, Lessons From AYGF’s Youth Interventions

Chioma Iruke

Since the inception of man, migration has been part of her nature as man has always sort ways to explore a better form or standard of living. Reasons for migration has differed with motives ranging from crisis avoidance, famine/food crisis, education and job opportunities. Data from William Shaw of the Education Commission stated that in 2015, an estimated 250 million people in the world lived outside their country of origin and about 70 per cent of them lived in high-income countries. In Nigeria, migration has become somewhat necessary since 2000 due to political instability, insecurity, lack of jobs, and educational advancement.

Although Nigeria is regarded as the largest economy in Africa, economic shocks fueled by unstable oil prices and uneven fiscal policy added to the COVID-19 pandemic have reduced the number of opportunities available for her growing youth population. In absolute numbers, the number of international migrants from Nigeria has increased from around 450,000 in 1990 to 1.4 million in 2019.

Currently, Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa, with an estimated addition of 100 million new people under the age of 35 by 2040, It is estimated that Nigeria needs to create an additional 30 million jobs by 2030 to employ its growing working-age population. Between 2010 and 2018, 25 million Nigerians entered the labour force; during the same period, the unemployment rate rose by 13 per cent as the majority of Nigerians within this circle have secondary and post-secondary education.

Nigerian youths disturbed at the economic prospects are increasingly seeking other economies for work. A Gallup poll conducted before the 2019 presidential elections showed that the proportion of youth planning to leave Nigeria permanently increased from 36 percent in 2014 to 52 percent in 2018, one of the highest levels in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Although the number has increased with time, a major concern would be those who migrate illegally as according to a 2018 report by the International Organization for Migration between May 2017 and January 2018, more than 6,700 Nigerian migrants were returned home from Libya through the efforts of Nigerian and international agencies. Africa Youth Growth Foundation (AYGF) over the years have tried to address this through her Migration Information Campaign (MICC).

The desire to migrate is highest among the unemployed yet educated urban youth who have taken advantage of the working demand within member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

This is because despite the population boom of working-age youths within Africa; European countries, on the other hand, are experiencing a working-age shortage as by 2050, its working-age population (those aged between 28 and 64) is projected to decline by over 15 per cent from 2020 levels due to a combination of low birth rates and increased longevity.

Without migration, a selection of OECD countries is predicted to lose more than 92 million workers over that same time period while gaining more than 100 million people over 65 years of age. This will have substantial implications for European pension schemes, while also leading to substantial skill shortages within a number of growing and dynamic industries.

Although many Nigerians seek to migrate due to economic reasons, they take various forms one of such is education.

Marred with course limitations and incessant strike actions, many Nigerians who seek to further their education opt for schools based in Europe and America. This is largely because of the prestige of schooling abroad and are recognized by the employment of labour in Nigeria, but also the possibility of possible employment and retainment by their employers in the case of a work-study visa.

Despite the intentions of finding a better life after schooling, current happenings have suggested that although all that glitters might not be gold, the Nigerian government needs to treat its citizens better.

Take for instance, in the early hours of Thursday, February 24, 2022, Russian forces invaded Ukraine’s border from multiple directions prompting explosions in multiple cities including the capital Kyiv. This thus led to a martial law being implemented by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky. With the imposition of this, Men between the ages of 18 to 60 years were prevented from living in the country. This announcement thus prompted migrants including Nigerians to seek refugee within neighboring countries. Unfortunately, African nationals, mostly students, have accused Ukrainian security forces of stopping them from boarding trains headed to the border regions. Videos shared on social media also show Ukrainian border forces pushing African nationals as they attempt to leave Ukraine.

Despite several reports of discrimination from Africans in Ukraine, the Nigerian Embassy in Kiev released a statement urging Nigerians to be responsible for their own security or try relocating. The statement which shows a lack of empathy, responsibility and sympathy on the part of the Nigerian government reads, “In view of the development, the embassy urges Nigerian Nationals resident in Ukraine to remain calm but very vigilant and be responsible for their security and safety.

“The embassy wishes to add that should any Nigerian National consider the situation as emotionally disturbing, such National may temporarily relocate to anywhere considered safe by private arrangement. They should, however, ensure that they do all the needful to validate all their resident documents for ease of return to the country when desired.

“Students seeking temporary relocation are enjoined to seek proper clearance and guarantee form from their respective institutions during this period.”

As a result of several condemnations and outcry, the Nigerian government approved the release of 8.5 million dollars on Wednesday, March 5, for the immediate evacuation of at least 5,000 Nigerians fleeing the Russian-Ukrainian conflict zone to Poland, Romania, Hungary, and Slovakia. So far 1,112 Nigerians have been successfully evacuated.

For Nigeria to avoid such a migration situation in the nearest future, it’s advisable for the Nigerian government to fortify its economy by consolidating its gas distribution revenue, oil reserves and wheat production. Also, the educational and security institutions need to be restructured if the country is to be more attractive for her young population.

We at the AYGF have embarked on various projects aimed at tackling insecurity, poverty, promoting good governance and quality education in accordance with the Sustainable Development Goals 2,1,16 and 4 respectively.

Projects like the Campaign Against Violent Extremism (CAVE) which serves as a counter security project is aimed; at providing livelihood support for at-risk youths aged 15-35, providing awareness on the dangers of joining insurgent groups as well as providing master training on early detection of radicalization. The project is to be carried out in partnership with the Director of State Security (DSS), as well as the National Correction Service.

The Farmers for Nutritional Support project (FANS) on the other hand helps to identify farmers and landowners who will cultivate, process and package nutritional products for supplementary feeding of adolescent mothers and their babies, pregnant and lactating mothers as well as the vulnerable population.

The project, when implemented, would complement the government’s effort at reducing unemployment and poverty amongst youths, boosting nutrition and healthy diets, downscaling child mortality and ensuring environmentally sustainable food supply. Under good governance, AYGF currently runs the Mobilization for Active Voters Participation In Nigeria (MAP). This project seeks to promote women participation, reduce electoral violence and promote youth politics.

In AYGF we believe that actively seeking results by getting involved would be more effective in ensuring the country that we desire and as such rather than only talking, we take steps to ensure that our desires are visible.