Volcano traps ‘abandoned’ Nigerian students in the Caribbean

When Isaac Nueka and 12 others departed Nigeria for the Island of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in March 2015 on the sponsorship of the Rivers State Government, he had hopes of smooth completion of medical studies and practice in the healthcare sector. But six years after, Isaac and his colleagues rot away on the […]

When Isaac Nueka and 12 others departed Nigeria for the Island of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in March 2015 on the sponsorship of the Rivers State Government, he had hopes of smooth completion of medical studies and practice in the healthcare sector.

But six years after, Isaac and his colleagues rot away on the island with no studies, no medical certification and no job, having seemingly been abandoned by the government.

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Isaac, 26, and his friends – Wisdom Akor, Biobele Briggs and Chioma Okeh, who spoke with Daily Trust from Anos Vale in Kingstown, sounded apprehensive, frustrated and angry over their seeming abandonment by the sponsoring authority in a time of great health and environmental stress.

The students, who have lived through the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and are currently enduring one of the most horrific volcanoes on the island, bemoan their almost hopeless, difficult fate.

They have been the lucky lot still as one of them, Brighton Nwidoh, who was trying to relocate to continue his studies, died some years back.

Explosive volcanic eruptions had hit the Caribbean Island on Friday April 9 raging with black ash and smoke plumes which cover the cloud at about 6-kilometer range.

In the midst of the chaos, there has been evacuation of at least 16, 000 people to safer neighbouring island nations using buses and cruise ships with the support of the United States.

The island has 32 islands and cays that make up St. Vincent and The Grenadines with a population of 110,589.

The island has an active volcano at La Soufrière elevation, which peaks at 1,234 metre with the latest eruption being the fourth on the island since 1979 when properties worth $100m was damaged.

The first recorded eruption occurred in 1718, while the 1902 eruption led to the death of over 1000 persons.

No fewer than 230 other Nigerians are studying on the island country in different fields, most of them sponsored by their families, in medicine.

But the 13 passed through a rigorous state government selection process to get to the island nation 2014/2015 after an initial 20, 000 applying candidates were reduced to 500 and later 120 offered scholarship, 13 of which is for medicine.

Following their success at the selection process, an official of the Rivers State Scholarship Agency arrived with them to complete their documentation at the All-Saints University College of Medicine in Anos Vale, Saint Vincent and the Grenadine in March 2015.

He said after Governor Rotimi Amaechi handed over to Nyesom Wike, things went quiet from the government, despite series of letters since then.

Nueka said he is living in a crowded shelter, where about 12, 000 persons out of the 120, 000 citizens are taking refuge from the volcano, and to go outside the house, they use protective gears, googles and facemasks.

“We don’t have access to water; the tap water has been bad and not safe and clean,” he said.

The students lamented that had the Rivers government acted fast, they would not have been trapped in the latest volcano having completed basic science courses which took two and a half years, but have been unable to get the remaining clinical studies which would last for another two and a half years due to stoppage of their fees.

Furthermore, they cannot work in the small island nation, which relies on tourism and export of agricultural products like banana for revenue, as their visa is strictly for study.

Briggs said although they receive food and water from the goodwill of the St. Vincent government, they have gone days without decent water.

He bemoaned the seeming tendency for breach of contracts in Nigeria without consequences, referring to their contract to be sponsored until completion of medical studies and to apply their skills for the state’s hospitals for some time, saying it portrays Nigeria as a lawless country where people do things without consequences.

“We appeal to Governor Wike to please pay our fees and look into our situation,” he said.

Akor said his family, which is burdened with fees for six of his siblings, cannot cope with the huge fees required to complete his studies.

“We are like orphans in the Caribbean. We have exhausted all avenues to reach the state government,” he said.

Chioma Okeh, who is from Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State, is worried that they could be bundled out of the host country any time.

“We don’t have much time anymore; our visa will expire next year and we are supposed to renew; they can bundle us out. But the Consule-General to Nigeria has been helpful,” she said.

“It’s been hard since we have been here for so long and not able to go to school. If they (government) had said they were not paying our fees anymore, we would have figured something.”

Father to another student, Tonye Roberts Ogolo, Mr Roberts-Ogolo, said he is worried about his son’s safety since he has been complaining of lack of clean water.

He said the absence of Rivers State Government’s intervention on the issue caused the students to be trapped by volcano in the island, adding that not all students from the state studying in other parts of the world are suffering in the same manner.

“They have lingered because the government has not played their part. But the school has been very understanding, even signing a Memorandum of Understanding with them there,” he said.

The Consul-General of St. Vincent to Nigeria, Dr Levi Odoe, confirmed the students’ statement that his intervention has helped keep them in school so far.

“I have written several letters to the state government to help them to no avail,” he said.

Dr Odoe also pleaded with public-spirited Nigerians and the government to assist citizens of the island to overcome the present challenge.

A health expert, Pharm Ifeanyi Ikebudu, warns that prolonged exposure to the volcanic ash could cause chronic lung diseases, while the eyes could be attacked by foreign bodies causing corneal abrasion and conjunctivitis as a result of exposure to oxygen, silicon, aluminium, iron and calcium.

“Aside from the physical injuries that are often associated with persons within the epicenter of volcanic eruptions, inhalations of gases and particles like carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide could cause some effects on the lungs,” he said.

Continuing, he said “such effects could range from simple bronchial irritations to emphysema, bronchitis and sometimes asthma, and could affect persons not within the immediate vicinity of the eruptions as the gases and particles could travel quite some distance from the epicentre of the volcano.”

Lawyer and public affairs analyst, Malachy Nwaekpe Esq, said the Rivers State Government is liable for the welfare of the students if the terms and conditions of the scholarship stipulates so but not liable for the effects of the volcano.

“The government should ensure they complete their studies or pay them adequate damages, subject to any contrary provisions in their agreement,” he said.

Our reporters could not obtain reaction from the Rivers State Government. But an earlier policy by the Nyesom Wike-led administration had said that it will no longer sponsor indigenes of the state who are on a foreign scholarship on grounds of inadequate funds.

The scholarship scheme was initiated in 2008 by former Amaechi’s administration to provide opportunity for indigents students from the state to acquire universities education in foreign countries. Over 300 students enrolled in the program that run annually until 2015.

The then State Sustainable Development Agency, (SSDA), an agency that was saddled with the responsibility of the sponsorship of the programme, in a letter dated February 6, 2016 and addressed to the parents of the affected students, said that the state government will no longer pay the tuition and allowances of the scholars and had consequently advised the students to return home.