COVID-19: Uncertainty over hope of Nigerians willing to return from abroad

There seems to be no hope in sight for the 230 Nigerians stranded in Dubai and other parts of the world following the cancellation of an early plan for Emirates Airlines to repatriate them back home owing to the continuous rampage of the nations of the world by the deadly COVID-19 pandemic.

Their hopes to be repatriated back home by the UAE airline, Emirates may not be realised earlier in view of the intrigues playing out over where to isolate them when they are eventually flown back to Nigeria.

The 230 Nigerians had indicated their preference to be flown back to Nigeria rather than remain in a foreign land as the pandemic continues to unleash havoc on millions of people around the globe.

The hope of their returning back to their fatherland on April 26th, 2020 became dashed as the Emirates flight that was billed to fly them to Nigeria was abruptly cancelled after each of them had paid N242,000 for the flights due to lack of proper coordination by the Nigerian government.

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The delay in the evacuation of the Nigerian returnees has been attributed to the confusion in the camp of the federal government over how to separate the already infected Nigerians from those free while onboard the special flight on one hand, and where to isolate them when they eventually land in Nigeria.

The earlier plans by the government to isolate the returnees in Lagos may not be possible as the state which has become the epicentre in view of the highest number of COVID-19 victims has become oversaturated.

As the stranded Nigerians continue to agitate for the return, the UAE based airline, Emirates has declared its readiness to fly the Nigerians back home but added this was subject to approval from the Nigerian government.

In a one-paragraph statement sent to the Tribune Online by the airline’s media partner in Lagos; the airline said: “Emirates had planned on operating the one-way repatriation flight from Dubai to Lagos on 26 April; all special flights are subject to government approval and can only operate once approval has been secured. We are working closely with the Nigerian authorities, and will update our customers once we have any further information.”

Apart from Dubai, many Nigerians are experiencing this same bad tale in countries like China, Britain and the United States where they have been left abandoned by the government as against their willingness to return home.

The federal government is presently in a serious dilemma over how to handle the cases of the stranded Nigerians many of whom have been found to be carrying the deadly virus with the overwhelming cases of a sharp increase in the numbers of those already tested negative in Nigeria.

NIGERIAN TRIBUNE