COVID-19: Repatriating Stranded Nigerians -By Adewale Kupoluyi

In what many people have described as a timely response, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has directed all its missions abroad to compile a list of willing Nigerian nationals who wish to come back home. According to the Chairman, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the decision was sequel to requests received from Nigerians stranded abroad amid the ravaging coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Mrs. Dabiri-Erewa, however, said that the financial implications of the trips would be borne by prospective evacuees that would be compulsorily quarantined on return to Nigeria.

On the procedure to follow, NIDCOM had asked interested citizens to inform embassies in their countries of residence of their intentions to return to Nigeria. She added that while embassies in several countries were on lockdown, those interested in taking the offer should go online and fill a form provided on the commission’s website while the information provided would then be collated and coordinated alongside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Earlier, the Federal Government had said it had no plans to evacuate Nigerians from countries with high cases of the deadly virus, according to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama at a joint national briefing of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 meaning that NIDCOM’s intervention may be described as an afterthought.

To this end, Mrs. Dabiri-Erewa urged Nigerians stranded abroad and willing to return home to key into the programme. Even though it is not very clear what the NIDCOM boss meant by ‘stranded’ but the simple meaning is that those being referred to are Nigerians that are either willing to return home but do not have the resources, or perhaps, those who have the means but are being prevented by the lockdown policy. This is where there is a need to show absolute discretion in reviewing the repatriation programme to ensure that there is no mix-up and misconception.

This move is not peculiar to Nigeria. It would be recalled that nationals from the United Kingdom, United States of America, Israel and member states of the European Union, among others, had been evacuating their citizens using emergency flights permitted in Nigeria. Despite concerns raised that leaving the country in droves could signify danger, the Federal Government had doused tension that the foreign citizens were only being evacuated because they were more familiar with the health systems in their home countries and that a large number of foreigners were still in Nigeria without any plan of leaving.

The intervention of the Federal Government should be revisited without further delay because of some grey areas. No doubt, several successful Nigerians are living and working in various parts of the world. For such people, coming home may not be difficult for them in terms of logistics and their ability to purchase flight tickets. Since the focus of the government is on those that are ‘stranded’ and those that are willing to return to the country but do not have the means. Therefore, asking them to foot the bills may be counter-productive and defeat the purpose of putting in place the intervention in the first place. Many Nigerians face hard lives abroad but would rather prefer doing so since they can still feed themselves and stay alive than coming home to beg for a living. The truth is that many Nigerians travelled abroad for greener pastures given the uncertainty and harsh economic conditions at home. The prevailing situation should serve as a big lesson for our leaders to fix Nigeria’s many problems.

Ordinarily, stranded Nigerians would prefer not to return home prematurely without having something reasonable to fall back on arrival. For them, the COVID-19 pandemic amounted to an unfortunate development that had forced them to return home prematurely, especially when most European and American countries are recording escalating casualties. Rather than die like chickens in a foreign land, leaving a prone and risky abode now is certainly going to be a wise decision, which makes the Federal Government offer very timely. However, asking stranded Nigerians to pay for their flights home; a pre-evacuation criterion that many returnees may not be able to meet up with; the government should classify the cost as expenses to be incurred and covered by the national intervention fund.

Aside from direct funding, the government could utilise part of the huge donations received so far for this purpose and also reach out to more generous individuals and corporate organisations. Just the way consumables and food items were being distributed to the supposedly poor people even though its impact cannot be ascertained, Nigerians stranded outside the country and desirous of returning home should also be assisted. This kind of intervention was carried out a few months ago though the magnitude may not be up to what is now at stake. Through private goodwill, Nigerians in South Africa who wanted to escape any possibility of further xenophobic and violent attacks were offered a free flight out of the country. The owner of private and indigenous Air Peace airlines, Chief Allen Onyema, volunteered to send an aircraft to evacuate Nigerians with the supervision of the government. This paid off as many Nigerians were repatriated home freely.

On the other hand, the government should still extend the gesture to those that are voluntarily ready to come back home and have the resources but were only prevented by the restriction orders imposed as a result of COVID-19. The implication of this is that two broad categories of returnees are to be managed and taken care of by the government. For this to be done very well, the status of each evacuee should be ascertained. For instance, it should be verified that the returnees are not evading justice or found to have violated foreign laws. Necessary precautions should equally be taken by ensuring that returnees are not already infected with the virus. NIDCOM should ensure that the affected Nigerians are thoroughly checked and screened without dissipating energy on unnecessary formalities.

As planned, all returnees should be isolated without fear or favour. Family members should desist from going to the airport to receive them. Nobody should be unduly exploited. Security and health personnel should carry out their duties without compromise otherwise the lives of people are subjected to monumental danger. Proper coordination is expected in this humanitarian but complex national assignment. The number of returnees, size of aircraft and available facilities at the isolation centres must commensurate. Massive evacuation, in a bid to save funds, should be avoided.

Collaboration and professional advice from health officials, immigration service, and reputable non-governmental organisations should be sought. This is not the time for inter-agency rivalry. More importantly, NIDCOM and the ministry of foreign affairs officials should always be accessible and truthful in carrying out this task for Nigerians to know what is happening. This call became imperative, because during emergencies, government officials that are saddled with the responsibility of interacting with members of the public are usually nowhere to be found at these critical times. Most of the telephone numbers and other contacts are always unreachable. It is hoped that the exercise would eventually turn out to be a happy reunion and not a suicide mission.

Kupoluyi writes from the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), adewalekupoluyi@yahoo.co.uk,@AdewaleKupoluyi