Abike Dabiri-Erewa, chairperson of the Nigerians in Diaspora
Commission (NiDCOM), says universities in the country have made offers to admit
Nigerian students returning from Sudan.
Dabiri-Erewa spoke on Thursday on Sunrise Daily, a Channels
TV programme.
Although she said the safe return of the stranded students
was the priority at the moment, she assured that the continuance of their
education would not be a problem.
The NiDCOM chair said the federal government had ensured
students who were evacuated from Ukraine continued their studies and would
replicate the process with those returning from Sudan.
“We did it with
Ukraine, when they came back, there were plans to continue education for them,”
Dabiri-Erewa said.
“Although the medical students among them had issues because
they found out that the level of their medical school was not even as high as
that of Nigeria so it was difficult to place them where they wanted. But, yes,
the ministry of foreign affairs actually created a division for that and
ensured that those who wanted to continue their education did. A lot of them
wanted to go back.
“Let them (the ones from Sudan) come back, let us receive
them safely and then we take it. In fact, universities are already offering and
have reached out to us that when they do come back and they want to continue
their education, they should contact them, so all that shouldn’t be a problem
at all.
“I think the number one problem is that you cannot be
talking about continuing your education if you’re not safe so our focus and our
anxiety is that all Nigerian students come back.
“President Buhari has approved funds so everything is done
24/7. So the first thing for us at this point in time is for them to reunite
with their families. The issue of education shouldn’t be a problem.”
On Wednesday, buses arrived to evacuate Nigerian students
amid the ongoing crisis in Sudan.
NiDCOM said the buses will take the students to the Egyptian
border from where they will be airlifted to Nigeria.
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