Over 3,500 hardworking Nigerian students are studying in Ukrainian universities – Envoy

By Ihesiulo Grace 29 January 2020 21 No comment

Serhii Yushkevych is the Charge d’Affaires a.i. of Ukraine to Nigeria. He spoke to Managing Editor, Bonaventure Melah and General Manager, Business Development, Abdulmumin S. Balogun on the safety of Nigerian students and others living in Ukraine, bilateral economic relations as well as Ukraine and Russia.

Tell us about yourself-your family, growing up, career so far and what you like about Nigeria

I was born in Rivne, Ukraine. I am married and have kids, arrived to Nigeria in September 2016 and was appointed the First Secretary for Economic Issues of the Embassy of Ukraine in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

From September 2019 till this time: Charge d’Affaires a.i. of Ukraine to this very important country that plays a key role not only in the region of Western Africa but in the entire African continent and in the world.

Ukraine pays special attention to the development of its relations with Nigeria. Ukraine and Nigeria enjoy a fruitful cooperation.

Ukraine considers Nigeria an important partner, especially in the area of trade and investments. In the economic field, Nigeria is already the most important commercial partner of Ukraine in Sub-Sahara Africa.

There are a lot of things I like about Nigeria. Nigerians are very open, friendly and hospitable and always willing to give their best to their guest.

I am happy to see that Nigeria is recovering from recession. What must be applauded and highlighted are the measures initiated by President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo to ease the hurdles of doing business in Nigeria.

An ambitious policy, launched in October 2016, is paving the way for the reviving of Nigerian local economy. I therefore wish all Nigerians and President Muhammadu Buhari a success in overcoming all the challenges that Nigeria faces today and in building a prosperous and peaceful country.

Ukraine’s economy also demonstrates good growing trends of GDP with 3.3% growth in 2018 and 4.1% in the third quarter of 2019.

The newly elected President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during a public session at the World Economic Forum in Davos on January 22, 2020, stated that Ukraine should become the leading country in Eastern and Central Europe in attracting foreign investments.

The country has a large domestic market, proven agricultural potential, energy and mineral resources, and a strategic geographic location.

This makes it a transit hub and gateway to Europe and Eurasia. The current government has actively reformed the investment climate.

Notably, the country has made significant progress on the investment climate indicators of the World Bank Doing Business Index.

Ukraine now ranks 71st out of 190 economies in the 2019 Doing Business report, gaining 4 places compared to the previous report.

We know that President Muhammadu Buhari is doing his best in the areas of agriculture, mining, reconstruction of infrastructure, roads, railways, aviation and ports, and paying attention to electricity.

The presidency also declared agriculture development a priority direction in diversification of Nigeria’s economy that largely depends on oil production and introduced zero rate for import of machinery and equipment for agriculture needs: cultivation of land, harvesting crops, transportation of yield, processing and production of agricultural products, including farming equipment and production of cattle-breeding fodder.

Therefore, industrial and technological assistance of Ukraine to Nigeria can be successfully used for realization of the plans of Nigeria in the energy, infrastructure sectors and in metallurgical industry.

Ukrainian powerful industrial and technological resources and our country’s assistance can be successfully used for realization of large-scale projects in Nigeria.

Our capabilities could help Nigeria to intensify its industrial development, in particular, to expand the electric power generating facilities network, to develop the transport infrastructure, including gas transport system, exploration and mining of coal, iron ore, industrial minerals and food-processing industry.

Nigeria and Ukraine have similar problems. In the sphere of security Nigeria has such threats as Boko Haram, while Ukraine suffers from Russian military aggression in the east. We are both making active efforts to improve our economies and fight corruption.

Ukraine has adopted the anti-corruption reform and established a number of anti-corruption bodies, such as the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU).

The result of the introduction of these measures aimed at fighting corruption was the improvement of Ukraine’s score in the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index which improved from 25 in 2013 to 30 in 2019.

Ukraine’s position improved from the 144th to 126th out of 180 countries. Of course, there is still a lot to improve, but the mentioned dynamics shows that Ukraine is moving in the right direction.

Many Nigerians are schooling in Ukraine and attesting to the country’s quality educational services. How did you achieve this?

We are satisfied with the present state of cooperation with Nigeria in education, and are ready for further mutually beneficial collaborations in this field.

Nigeria ranks fifth in the number of students in Ukraine and the number of Nigerian students studying at Ukrainian universities is steadily increasing.

Today, more than 3,500 students from Nigeria are studying in Ukrainian universities. They are hardworking and performing very well. Our governments are both discussing different forms of bilateral cooperation and new formats are being developed.

Currently Nigerian and Ukrainian Governments are working on the draft Agreement between the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Government of Ukraine on Cooperation in the Field of Education.

In February 2017 Ukrainian side transferred this draft Agreement for consideration of Nigerian side. So far we are waiting for the response.

Based on this Agreement Ukrainian side proposes to sign an interinstitutional agreement, which will stipulate the number of scholarships to be granted to Nigerian students by Ukrainian Government as well as the conditions of their granting.

As one of the examples of successful cooperation between educational establishments of our countries we can mention the partnership between Sumy State University (Ukraine) and Bingham University (Karu, Nigeria).

Last fall, 2019 they have started faculty exchange and academic mobility program in the frame of which Ukrainian lecturers and professors arrived to Nigeria for 3 and 6 month teaching activity at Bingham University at Economic Department.

In return, Nigerian lecturers have spent 3 months at Sumy State University teaching at the Department of International Economic Relations and Computer Science.

Such projects widen the international exposure for both countries universities’ faculty members, bring unique experience for students, involve further mutual scientific research and publication activities and strengthen the academic relationship between our countries.

Foreign students are attracted to Ukraine due to a unique combination of high quality education and affordable cost of living compared to other countries.

Ukrainians are very open, kind, friendly and hospitable. There is a very big potential for cooperation in the area of education between our countries and one of the main tasks of the Embassy is to explore this potential to fullest.

Also it should be noted that both our nations have a very ancient and rich cultural heritage. Getting to know each other’s culture is a mutually enriching experience.

Cultural exchange between Ukraine and Nigeria is already going on to a certain extent. Nigerian students who come to study in Ukraine bring their culture and traditions to Ukraine, and at the same time they learn Ukrainian culture and traditions.

To enrich the mutual cultural experience it is really important to arrange regular visits of singers, poets and artists.

We are planning to organize a festival of Ukrainian music in Abuja. Currently the selection of music bands willing to perform on international level and to travel to Abuja is underway.

Ukraine offers a whole range of cultural events: theatres, concerts, stand-up shows, exhibitions etc. both national and international, which may attract attention of foreign artists to participate. Among the best ones are following annual international festivals:

“The Molodist International Film Festival” has encouraged young filmmakers and their short films since 1970 in Kyiv. The main goal of the festival is to support the development of young contemporary cinema.

The competition program of the festival presents dozens of national and international works of talented young filmmakers from all continents of the world.

And as we all know, the Nigerian film industry, known as Nollywood, ranked as the world’s second-largest movie industry by volume behind India’s Bollywood, is thriving space for international competition arena.

“Leopolis Jazz Fest” is jazz event hosted in Lviv (listed among the top 10 jazz festivals in Europe by The Guardian), which welcomes world-renowned jazz stars and around 40,000 spectators every year.

About 300 musicians from 15 countries gave their performances on the stages of Leopolis Jazz Fest during 5 days in 2019.

Most performances at these stages were traditionally supported by embassies and institutions. Leopolis Jazz Fest, similarly to Lagos Jazz Fest, may attract a number of talented well-known Nigerian musicians.

“The International Book Arsenal Festival” is an intellectual event in Kyiv, where literary and artistic scenes are combined with each other, essential social issues are raised and discussed, encouraging participants and visitors to take a proactive position.

During the 9 years of its existence, the Book Arsenal Festival has hosted over half a thousand writers, poets, philosophers, designers, illustrators, and publishing experts from over half a hundred countries of the world.

It is a common practice for Embassies to participate in the festival with a promotion stand with books of national writers. It is a great opportunity to introduce renowned Nigerian authors, as Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie and others, to the Ukrainian consumer.

“Outlook World Culture Festival” is a festival of cultures of the peoples of the world, organized since 2014 in Kyiv with participation of the Embassies of foreign states and diasporas.

Thematic locations exhibit national items, clothes and even provide visitors with an opportunity to taste traditional foods and drinks from all over the world. Various cultural workshops, choreographic and music activities are organized and performed by participants as well.

Parents of Nigerian students who are in Ukraine or planning to school in Ukraine are worried about the news filtering in from the country; especially regarding unrests and denial of activists and journalists’ rights. What is the assurance that Nigerian citizens living or schooling in Ukraine are not at risk?

Under “unrests” I presume you mean war in the Eastern Part of Ukraine caused and held by Russia. Russian military aggression against Ukraine began immediately after Ukraine made a clear choice with the Revolution of Dignity to join the European Union (EU).

Crimean peninsula, the autonomous part of Ukrainian state, and east parts of Luhansk and Donetsk regions were roughly occupied by Russian regular troops and its proxies.

Ukraine started an anti-terrorist operation to protect its own territory and initiated at the same time, a diplomatic process to find ways of resolving the conflict under the Minsk Accord (Process).

Unfortunately, Russia is not complying with the Minsk Accord and Russian occupation forces are staying in the East of Ukraine, supporting the terrorist organizations so called “Luhansk People’s Republic” and “Donetsk People’s Republic” (“LNR/DNR”).

Russia is continuing escalation of war by committing numerous unlawful actions and violations of the international law that demonstrate unreliability of Russia as a partner.

Proclaiming peaceful intentions, Moscow continues regularly to supply the Donbas terrorists with weapons and reinforcements.

Continued violation of fundamental norms of international law by Russia is causing disruption of the international security architecture with unpredictable consequences.

Ukraine is able to contain the terrorist threat in the Donbas region, which is orchestrated and supported by Russia.

Strictly fulfilling the Minsk Accord requirements, Ukrainian army is successfully countering the on-going Russian troops and Russia-backed illegal armed formations. The country became even more united in reaching the main goal – to get rid of its historical dependence on Russia.

To sum up the above, the security issues exist only in the eastern regions occupied by Russia, while the territory controlled by Ukrainian Government is safe and secured for everybody.

Russia is investing a lot of money and efforts into fake news and dirty propaganda as a part of information war against Ukraine.

Of course, crime exists everywhere: in Ukraine, in Nigeria and in all economically developed countries, but Russian propaganda takes any incident and presents it as a large-scale disaster by falsely magnifying its scale.

Military aggression is just one element of the Russian hybrid warfare against Ukraine. Other elements encompass: propaganda based on lies and falsifications; trade and economic pressure; energy blockade; terror and intimidation of Ukrainian citizens;

cyber-attacks; a strong denial of the very fact of war against Ukraine despite large scope of irrefutable evidence; use of pro-Russian forces and satellite states in its own interests and blaming the other side for its own crimes.

Joint political and diplomatic efforts of the international community constitute a crucial element in countering Russian aggression.

On 27 March 2014 the UN General Assembly adopted the resolution 68/262 “Territorial Integrity of Ukraine” which confirmed the internationally recognized borders of Ukraine and the absence of any legal basis to change the status of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol.

We are grateful to Nigeria for its support of the mentioned UN Resolution and still hope for Nigeria’s firm support of other UN decisions on Ukraine especially on the situation of human rights in Crimea and Sevastopol.

The same stance was confirmed by the UN General Assembly resolution 71/205 “Situation of human rights in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol (Ukraine)” of 19 December 2016.

Besides that, this resolution unambiguously defines Russia as an occupying power and places all the responsibility for human rights violation in Crimea upon Moscow.

Numerous documents in support of Ukraine’s territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders were approved by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and other international organizations.

Political and economic sanctions are the most effective tool of pressure on the aggressor state. They significantly reduced the possibility of a large-scale invasion and forced Russia to sit at the negotiating table, in particular within the Trilateral Contact Group (Ukraine and Russia are parties to the conflict, the OSCE is a mediator) and Normandy Quartet (Ukraine and Russia are parties to the conflict, France and Germany are mediators). A decision to ease or lift the sanctions will encourage a new wave of Russian military aggression.

Concerning activists and journalists’ rights, I would like to stress that Ukraine is one of the most democratic and free countries in terms of the inviolability of private life, freedom of speech, freedom of expression and freedom of religion. People are able to freely express their opinions publicly, through mass media and via social media.

The Government of Ukraine does not exercise any control over internet or social media. It is worth mentioning that according to the Ukrainian law it is strictly forbidden to interfere with person’s private life.

Human life is an absolute value, protected by the Constitution of Ukraine. No one can be subjected to torture, inhuman or degrading treatment.

A person can be deprived of liberty only in limited cases when it is necessary to bring a criminal to a trial, to prevent commitment of new crimes or as a punishment of a person convicted by a lawful court.

Ukraine remains faithful to its international obligations in the sphere of human rights and I would like to reassure you that the Nigerians, who study in Ukrainian universities, do not have any security issues.

Your country set up the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutors Office (SAPO) yet the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index places you 131 out of 176 globally. How can your government inspire the confidence needed for foreign investors?

In 2012, Transparency International revised the methodology used to construct the index to allow for comparison of scores from one year to the next.

Prior to the establishment of the National Anti-Corruption Prosecutors Office and the NABU, in 2013 Ukraine was ranked 144 out of 177 and scored 25.

In 2019 Ukraine was 126th from 180 countries and scored 30, therefore after introduction of those bodies Ukraine’s position had significantly improved.

The Ukrainian Parliament has adopted a number of laws aimed at protecting property rights and the rights of investors.

Those laws and the anti-corruption bodies are sure to create fair and transparent rules of the game on the Ukrainian market, which foreign investors are looking for.

A wonderful indicator that Ukraine is heading in the right direction is that the International Monetary Fund has given preliminary agreement to a new loan package. Such display of trust by the International Monetary Fund will surely spur foreign investment to Ukraine.

How are your new president and parliaments performing?

Ukraine is undergoing a political elite’s change. It is very important that this process is going very fast. The President-led party got an overwhelming majority of votes in the parliamentary elections and has formed a mono-coalition.

A new Ukrainian Parliament began its work on August 29, 2019 with forming a new professional technocratic Government. We do believe that all the ministries will start working at full capacity very soon too.

We understand that more reforms are needed to complete the transformation into a modern and open market economy which will be more attractive for foreign investors.

Our economy has been growing for the 15th consecutive quarter. However, we believe that the current pace of development does not meet our potential. Ukrainian economy has become more flexible and stronger. GDP has increased by 4.6% in the second quarter of 2019.

In August 2019, consumer inflation declined in annual terms – to 8.8%, down from 9.1% in July, approaching the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) forecast. The NBU reiterates its forecast that inflation will meet the 5% medium-term target at the end of the next year.

International reserves are now at their six-year high – increased up to $22bn. as of August 2019. The balance of payments is also looking good – this year’s deficit is expected to be 2.6% of GDP.

The positive trend that investors continue their trust in Ukraine’s economy and buy Ukrainian domestic government loan bonds with increasing corresponding currency inflows into our country.

In order to ensure the national interests of Ukraine in the sustainable development of economy, civil society and the state, in order to achieve an increase in the standard and quality of people’s life, respect for their constitutional rights and freedoms, the President of Ukraine signed a decree on the Sustainable Development Goals of Ukraine until 2030.

This document is based on the United Nations General Assembly’s Sustainable Development Goals set in 2015 in UN Resolution 70/1, the 2030 Agenda.

As the result of successful negotiations by President V.Zelenskyy, Ukrainian prisoners of war returned home after years in captivity by Russian regular troops and mercenaries on temporary occupied and uncontrolled territories in Donetsk and Lugansk regions in Eastern Ukraine. Troops have been withdrawn from both sides.

Russia has also agreed to pay Ukraine $7bn in the following five years to transport natural gas across Ukraine’s territory, as well as nearly $3bn to settle previous disputes.

For the first time since 2005, majority of Ukrainians believe that the country is moving in the right direction. Currently 62% say that they trust their President.

Freedom in the World 2019 places your freedom rating at 3.5/7, political rights at 3/7 and civil liberties rating at 4/7 (where 1=Most Free, 7=Least free) Do you contest these figures. And are human rights protected in your country?

These figures to a large extent are due to the propaganda of Russian TV channels and social media.

Since Russia is waging war against Ukraine on all fronts including in information release, the Government of Ukraine was forced to take such drastic measures in order to limit abundant deceitful Russian propaganda.

Those limitations in no way intended to limit the freedom of speech or expression. Those measures were introduced to prevent dissemination of lies anti-Ukrainian fake news and information.

As of today, Ukraine continues its work on the creation of the united European community based on freedom, democracy and observance of human rights and the rule of law.

As a member of the Council of Europe, on 17 July 1997 Ukraine ratified the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms and the Protocols thereto.

According to the preamble of the Convention, it aims at securing the universal and effective recognition and observance of human rights proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the General Assembly of the United Nations.

From Ukraine’s point of view, the Convention is not only a political tool of influence over a state, but a unique system, which established the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) that safeguards the protection of human rights.

Persons, whose rights are violated by the state agents, can apply to the ECHR for protection. The process of execution of judgments of the ECHR, which is supervised by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, consists of two parts: individual measures – measures that the Government should take to restore the person’s rights and general measures – to prevent occurrence of such violations in the future with regard to anybody else.

Examples of individual measures can be reviewing of the person’s case by the domestic courts when the ECHR finds that a person’s right for fair trial was violated, payment of compensation for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages caused by the human rights violation.

General measures include amendments to the legislation and practices of the state officials in order to make impossible recurrence of such violations in the future with regard to anybody else.

It is safe to state that owing to the power of the Convention and the European Court’s judgments the Ukrainian judiciary and justice have begun to reform, the Constitution of Ukraine has been amended, which indicates that the state machinery, its highest representatives, understand the role of its mechanism and make efforts to strengthen it.

In Ukraine, the Prosecutor’s Office is being reformed and the National Police of Ukraine has been established, thus we abandoned the old Soviet standards and established a renewed law-enforcement authority.

We work on the penitentiary system reform, although it is not an easy task, nonetheless cooperation between state authorities does rise to a new level, being based, in particular, on the European Court’s legal positions and the provisions of the Convention.

Ukraine is also bringing its domestic legislation and law-enforcement practice in line with the standards set out in the Convention and made more specific in the European Court’s judgments.

These are the European Court’s judgments that fostered the development of the National Human Rights Strategy of Ukraine. The Action Plan on its implementation envisaged making amendments to and adopting new laws that will comply with the European Court’s findings, as well as the provisions of the Convention.

The Government Agent works strenuously to ensure that every judgment delivered by the European Court is taken into consideration by state authorities.

We have obtained significant support from the judicial branch, particularly from the Higher Specialised Court of Ukraine for Civil and Criminal Cases, which gives explanations and sends circular letters to courts, pointing out the necessity of the practice improvement, so as to preclude similar violations in the future.

All these steps help to bring the Ukrainian legislation into compliance with the standards and best practices of the European human rights law.