A sixth-year medical student at the Ternopil National Medical University in Ukraine, Dominic Oru, a Nigerian, was two months away from completing his medical degree when Russian forces invaded the country on February 24.
Oru woke up that day to news of explosions in many Ukrainian cities. And, like hundreds of other students in Ternopil, he fled to Romania. From there, he took a government-chartered flight to Nigeria in early March.
This week, however, Oru and his classmates resumed their online classes. He says it has been more like a reunion.
“Our main conversation was about how we couldn’t say goodbye properly because we thought we still had time. It was going to be the graduation ceremony, where we’ll have pictures and everything.”
Oru says that amid the uncertainties, he is keeping his hopes high, although he worries about his teacher in Ukraine, who is also serving as a frontline rescuer.
“He looks very stressed. It seemed that he had had very little…sleep. He could see the bags around his eyes.’
Nigerian authorities said some 8,000 citizens were living in Ukraine when the invasion began. About 5,600 of them were students.
Sixteen-year-old first-year medical student Fatima Baffah also returned to Nigeria weeks ago and started virtual learning as well. But for her, it’s not the same. She said she misses seeing her friends and teachers, and she looks forward to taking classes in person.
Baffah began her medical training in September. Now her mother, Sallah Baffah, says that she must stay out of Ukraine and needs a place to study in peace.
Dominic Oru and his colleagues were planning a big dinner to celebrate his graduation. But now he fears that he will never see some of his classmates again.