 According to a news source, the evacuation of 2,400 students and other Nigerians trapped by the ongoing conflict in Sudan took off on the slow start on Wednesday as only 15 out of the 40 buses required for the exercise were provided. Although the federal government hired 40 buses for the repatriation of the citizens from Khatum and other citizens to carry Egypt, only 10 buses were available as of Wednesday morning, while additional 5 buses were provided later in the day. This was happening as the minister of foreign affairs, Drafion Yemak, claimed that the federal government had been charged $1.2 million for the evacuation of Nigerian nationals out of Sudan. He cited insecurity in Sudan for the high cost of evacuating Nigerians from Sudan. We are worried about the Nigerians in Sudan and what the government is going to do to ensure their safety and we are asking what is the state of the safety of Nigerians trying to evacuate Sudan. Please let's hear what you have to say. Remember you can join the conversation, send us an SMS or WhatsApp to 081 80384663. You can also tweet to us that we show Africa one with the hashtag we show. You know, actually when I read or when I was talking about the 1.2 million others because so first of all. You know, all you hear is a large amount of money. When I heard that, I just went to my calculator and I was like, okay, so 1.2 million dollars. See, we are just going to say anything. No, we are not even doing black market rates. And I'm like, okay. And you provided only 15 buses, that's number one. Number two, these drivers, now I don't know if these drivers are locals or if they are Nigerians or wherever it is they are from. They had the guts to stop in an unknown, in the middle of nowhere. Like a red cow, the dogs say, you are there dropping people that or rather stopping people that. So how are we so sure that there wasn't even something that was even, would I say planned in the first place. Like all of these things don't just, it doesn't make sense. I said at the beginning, I have mixed feelings about this because in the first place, yeah, who sent you guys. But also, I feel like the government has a responsibility to its citizens, right? So in cases like this, because look at other countries and what other countries. I'm sure as we get on the conversation, we're going to have, we're going to talk about this. What other countries are doing. So why is it that it's always different when it comes to Nigeria? Why is our case always different? Is it different? First of all, I mean, I just, I want to echo look. Nigeria is bad, Nigeria is bad. But when it kicks off somewhere else, where do you want to go? You want to come back to Nigeria? So the fact is, right, there's a sense of entitlement that Nigerians have first and foremost. You know, you're standing in that video, you're laying out money is finished out. This is this. And my first question is how do you get there in the first place? When you were going, did you seek the government's permission? Did you tell like, literally the government, I mean, it's like somebody having a baby and then coming baby to your doorstep and say feed my baby. Like when you were having sex, was I there? Was I present? Did you consult me? So you've gone to this place. And yes, my son was very proud yesterday. He said, mommy, I learned about the government today in school. And I said, what does the government do? So the government is responsible for the safety and security of its citizens. Now government is responsible for the safety and security of its citizens. Right. And there is an expectation that yes, when I'm abroad, my government will look after me. Your government is the government of Nigeria. We have not looked after the 200 million Nigerians in Nigeria. Then we got to worry extra about you that has chosen to walk with your two feet to another country. But these things happen, right? So you are there and the government starts to make plans. Again, we have very high expectations. $1.2 million is actually not a loss of money for an evacuation exercise of this sort. For the countries that really plan it. It takes sometimes as much as 1,200 military personnel to get people out of the country. Now, for some context, because again, Nigeria is so rubbish that people like to see. Most other countries, a lot of other countries have only moved out their diplomats. The UK still has almost 4,000 citizens stuck there. So when we say these things, there's always needed a measure of... We need to temper these things when we're sort of having our expectations. Because you kind of have to look at what your government is doing at home to rate what they would do abroad. Then you now get stuck and you're like, we don't have money. Don't even go far. Just stay in the environs of Lagos Island and ask how many people don't have money. And you know that. There's one thing I want to say, but I'm just going to try and hold myself back. I'm trying to really rein myself in. But the fact is, why all of a sudden do you have massive expectations? I don't understand first and foremost, if the drivers were not paid, why start the bus? That's my question. And leave them. But we don't have... All the details are just what we have of the story. But for me, the main thing here is, the evacuation of people in war zones and things like that is hugely, hugely problematic. That you have to keep people safe. You have to stop one side from trying to shoot them to claim the other side did it. And this is a very tense situation. We must remember that the two factions that are fighting, they are military both sides. This is not a civilian versus government. This is not small, small guys. This is full-on guy. You and I, we have AK-47s galore. These are generals. So it is not a situation where you just think, I can just run to one corner. This is calculated military training, fighting each other back and forth. So this is the elephants fighting and the grass is trying to get out of the building. Exactly. So it really for me is, look, we sometimes just have to say, look, Nigerian government, you've even kicked into action because we must applaud. They've even done something. They've started something and let's wait to see where it will go. But I mean, Nigerians, we need to arrange our expectations. I mean, reality is in front of you and you still have high expectations. I don't know what else to say. What would you rather they do, actually? Because, I mean, we are Nigerians and we have a government, whether good or bad. Ideally, the government is, I mean, for God's sake, they are responsible for our safety. They started doing something. My point is, look, we don't ever think now, like I said, UK citizens are still there. We never think to stop and say, how much or how long does it take to plan an evacuation? An evacuation. You know, all we see is money has been paid. It's not about paying money. There is a plan. There is planning. There is actually executing what it takes to execute. Then executing, having it go well. All of these things are part of the planning. Those countries, countries, I don't want to say countries that are countries. But countries rehearse these things in their different embassies so that when it happens, they have an idea. Right? I don't know what the situation is in Nigeria if we do that. We must first of all understand that this thing is not like saying, Oh, Dami got lost in Sudan. We're just going to go pick her up. No, between you and finding Dami, there are soldiers. There are guns. There are bullets. People, by the way, are dying. And then we think that we're just, I mean, I think the first thing I saw about the evacuation was that a piece was going to fly a plane in there. And you think a piece is flying from here to anywhere. You could have just landed. That's all, that's all, that's all. That's all, that's all, that's all. That's all, that's all, that's all. That's all, that's all. You know what I mean? So that is a whole logistics and planning that goes into kicking something like this off. And when you don't plan well and you rush it, Ergo, we're stuck in the desert, entitled. But really, do we really believe that those drivers were not paid? And that was why they stopped in the middle of Sahara? Okay, let me play Devils Advocate. Again, because we like sensation. That's on the flip side. It is possible, you know, I had mentioned something like, It's possible the drivers are locals. Now in the event that this kind of thing happens, you want to use locals. Because they probably know backwards, they understand the language. So what if somebody had called them to say, listen, you need to stay put for now. You can't move because this place is blocked or that. Again, like Uti said, we don't have all the facts. So when somebody comes on social media and then says something, that's what everybody runs with. Now we don't know the reason why, what if they get away and they shoot them and they all die in the process of. No dear, let me say something. So if that was the situation, I strongly believe that the drivers would have said something to them. And not just to them. They would have informed them. I mean, you are transporting people somewhere, right? Now Uti was saying, oh, what we hear is money. Of course what we hear is money because you cannot tell me that you are saying we need $1.2 million to about Kuwait Nigerian citizens from Sudan. And then at the end of the year, providing first, providing only 10 buses. So in my head, I've played what the scenario was like. So side, they need 10 buses to take out these people from Khatum. So side, you say, how many are they? One man needs, give them 10 buses. Then 10 buses get there and then people fill up the bus. And he calls back saying, 10 buses there is not enough. I said, give them 5 more. I mean, are you already told about that? So that's my grievance now. I understand that these people might have been a bit entitled because really whose business is it if your money has finished or if you don't have water strength and all that, right? But now my question is, why do we come out and say we are using X, Y, Z amount and then we don't eventually get what it is that the money has been collected. So what if there was even a deal and then the other drivers or the other companies says you know what this is a risk we can't afford to take? What if? I was just going to say that this situation is in flux. Like I said, this is a war zone. Best blade plans still go wrong. You could have paid the company and then today the company is blown up or tomorrow the driver gets shot and the rest of the drivers say you know what and nobody will do this because the hazard is high and I'm not afraid enough already. They have afraid of reprisals because they live there. I understand. But this also now boils down to Nigerian prioritizing citizens here. It did prioritize citizens into the tune of 1.2 million dollars. We see. Look at what China do. I think there are 400 citizens. Please do the mark. My mark is a little off right now. 1.2 million divided by 400 is worth. 300,000. Thank you. It's time for some prioritization. We like to affect the brain. Yes. They could have made other plans. Other countries are evacuating their citizens through the Navy. There isn't the Navy so that they can use the waterways to get out of there. But first of all, we don't even have a national carrier as a country. We don't need one. We don't. We actually do. Okay, so what if Epis did not volunteer to say okay, what would have happened in my airline? There are great many countries that don't have a national carrier. Again, focus on your focus. Your problems in Nigeria today do not involve a national carrier. Let's not deviate. Literally. I mean, I can say again, this is not a holiday destination. Epis is not just going to go ahead. They think that they are evacuating their citizens. They are doing that with the military planes and children helicopters. They are not doing that with here. Is there some water going on here? Like no, guys. Don't do this. Don't do this. Everybody at the end. Don't do this. That's what I'm saying. Look at what China has done. Look at what Japan has done. They brought in their Navy. They brought in their soldiers. What has Nigeria done anything like that? No. We only sent buses out. But I just said to you that planning is not your problem. We are not proactive. We are always reacting. Yeah, exactly. That's one of the problems of Nigeria. We don't have... Proactiveness does not exist with us. Because number one, that... Well, personally, I think this kind of thing is number one. It's a security. In fact, they are even being evacuated. It requires strict security. You shouldn't be, I mean, doing social media, taking videos, shooting it out to the world and all that. And then why would they even just put citizens by themselves? Inside a boat. There are many moving parts. Yes. I don't think it makes enough sense. Unless you have the full story. We can't particularly say. We can't particularly say. I mean forget the people that are saying they don't have water. They don't have money. That's them just being entitled. I mean, just that sense of entitlement. When the real sense of it, like you rightly said, why are you just putting citizens in it? Because you don't even know who is driving them. You've addressed my point, which is the fact that the planning doesn't seem to be up to point. It was just a rushed thing. As where our debt children started from was that they paid one point to me. Oh yeah, that was about money. How much are we going to pay? Who are we going to pay? Then the question is, or perhaps the question we forgot to ask is what is the plan and what are the contingencies? These are the things that are necessary. My opinion is that I know that there is no contingency and there's no plan. You just come out and then you just call that money because you feel like you can and yes, everybody just wants to sit back and accept that this is the amount of money that is given. Nigerian government always take advantage of every problem. That's my pain. There's always the advantage. They don't think that Nigerian government don't have the interest of their citizens. I don't think that Nigerian government has the interest of its citizens. If I am being very honest because this entire situation could have gone in a different way. This entire situation of trying to equate people would have gone in a better way. Very frankly. Rather than just putting people in a bus and saying, drive them to Cairo. It doesn't make any literal sense because how are you even sure that the people that are driving them are not going to take them to somewhere else where they can be kidnapped. I am sure they are not even going to kidnap them. And then the next news you are going to hear is that social and some number of Nigerians were kidnapped on their way in Cairo. You know these things happen and it doesn't make any sense because like you rightly said better planning could have been put in place for these things to make sense. But right now we don't see make any sense. Just hearing is one big figure 1.2 million dollars. And I am like so where has the money gone into? What have you guys used it to do? I mean if we have seen the work that has been done and it still doesn't go as we want it to go. I mean we know we can have our consultation in the fact that we tried but in this case we are not even trying. We are not even trying to try. So how can we I mean so how can we not praise our effort so we are not even trying? Okay I mean I like the I am good at this conversation from and I can't wait to see what I want to see. Before I see what I want to see let's take a break. I am really loving the turnout of this conversation and if you just tuned into our ladies nights out and were discussing the war incident the safety and evacuation of Nigerians please let's hear what you have to say. Remember you can join the conversation send us an SMS or WhatsApp to 081838 4663 you can also Twitter or search Weisshoa Africa with the hashtag Weisshoa Also our phone line is now open please call us on 070 2507749 call us on 070 2507749 please also remember to turn down the volume of the devices it is that you are calling us from so that we can hear you and you can hear us as well. So I was going to see now let's look at this from the angle of these people that are Jack Payne because the truth is that anything can happen in any country at any damn time right so our people the question now is are Nigerians considering are they putting these security concerns into consideration when they want to Jack Payne if you were you want to go to Sudan a country a country that had a thing had a thing for 30 years had a coup in 1990 has had military power but do it it is also like a what kind of country maybe if you think it that would not have been the country that you went to Sudan has been like this for a long time for a long time so I'm not asking so what are the people that have been going into this country what the people how is it that you know that a country is war turned and you still want to go there want to get a medical certificate we have a collaborative high easulem and from Baocji good evening начала  Chloe딱                                                                                ఉాదాలియిమామాటికాతాస్లి. నమరికరియారికి. వకలిలౚి నికి . తివాటికాటికి. హి కి కి. ਹ ੱ੢੷ੰੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱੱ I don't think that those kinds of things come into people's minds when people are leaving because people just think I just want to get out I just want to get out the two things that I take predominantly from this situation and what I think that our viewers should think about when they have these conversations for me personally is yes powerful question where you are going somewhere please think about it if anything happens are you going to rely on your government or are you going to have a plan b this second thing is war is not a thing to be trivialized as you take it like so you can see that as bad as Nigeria is like to say Nigeria is it has kicked off somewhere now they're running back to Nigeria please let us be peaceful in this our land because what was the what was the source of this problem transition of power they're having the same issues we've had in the past the transition from military roles to democracy and not being able to have those conversations flow effectively to the desired end point so peace is not highly overrated we like it you know as Nigerians we are waiting for owan best Saturday you know Friday less you know just just in some context so that we appreciate our realities before we go back to the people in the desert thank you absolutely agree with um Ute I mean peace peace we can't even say it enough and like you rightly said I mean we can look at Ukraine South Africa I mean everybody wants to come back home and everybody now gets angry when they feel the government is not doing something to help them come back home but if we burn our nation so where do we come back to so it becomes pertinent it becomes imperative that we must do all that we can to make sure this country does not burn so at least even if you jack by wherever you have a home to come back to what may I feel like the reason why people want to come back to Nigeria after the jack by is because the freedom that they can get in this Nigeria they can't get it anyway but they can't go somewhere else now they can't go somewhere else this freedom that we have in this area it's not you can't get it anyway look you're not you're calling it freedom it's not freedom first and foremost Dorothy got his right in the wizard of us there is no place like home right say what you will in Nigeria you are on your terra firma your own part of the world nobody can take that from you yeah absolutely I mean literally two weeks before we got back my song was like mommy I'm ready to go home like my family I'm ready to go home and I like I got it I have and everybody that knows me knows that Nigeria is at the center of my DNA I love this country I hear we are here but the fact is we forget when we're here we take it for granted yeah then when you are out there you realize that you know what you go through the experiences you go through the realities and you realize I actually miss home and when I think back to when we had I think it was really circa 2007 2008 when we had the whole IGGB everybody was coming home the fact is if this country was rocking Nigerians will not I think I said earlier yeah sit here and we will be happy because I'm telling you small chops and I'm like is it it is very beautiful country I love Nigeria I would like to live in Nigeria I mean I like to travel the world but I would definitely like to live in Nigeria and I'm going to search a beautiful place I know right honestly okay that's our government why you loman from avia hello loman good evening thank you for calling I like what I mean hearing hope you're seeing that the young government is about this all they're doing in effort putting this because what is spending me these people are welcoming back to me and our education system is not working and they come now when they come back what are they going to do tomorrow after we've got strike you tell me that I should be happy why these people even please I would like you sit down after now and let me know what if you talk about in my own language as an able man I don't know what is happening so you let me know about it but what I'm just saying is that these people coming back now will they still go back to complete the education because our democracy is not working I may have destroyed our democracy within and then they are not doing well everything in this country just going from top to down you are happy that you're coming to places like hope and as you're coming back you're coming back to meet with good government you're coming back to meet with good education to come back to but when you come back you will now stand back to start some square one so that is where the problem is which I pray that when they want God will help you want to finish so and get let them sit in sit down so that they will go back on finish education otherwise they will remain here in Nigeria no education no nothing thank you very much thank you very much actually I agree with what he said I agree with what he said completely because like you said just a few minutes ago if Nigeria was a very if in Nigeria was a walking place a lot of people will not be out of this country a lot of Nigerians will not be out of this country a lot of Nigerians will be here it's just a very sad reality it's just like let me be a practical example maybe your living condition where you are living your house is not particularly great and then you know maybe you just get bored or you're just whatever reason you want to leave you go on maybe holiday to your friends place at some point your house to be calling you even if the living condition is not so great your house to be called you want to go home then when you now get to the house you now remember what you actually left in the very first instance so it's just a very sad reality that we are in currently as ninjas because you can't tell me to go to uk to go and study for instance and maybe no matter how difficult it was when I was there I mean I pointed out a very great education there because they have very good educational system and then I come back to Nigeria nothing is really working I love that I'm back home but I'm sad about what is happening do you get it's so annoying it's really so I really agree with what he said it's really annoying and honestly Nigerian government can actually do better I don't know how much education is Sudanese circle and average union in the UK is about 12,000 pounds very give or take if you go to the US you are talking 60 70 thousand dollars how much is your federal university here how much is your state university here you know look value for money you get what you pay for exactly so when you are paying how much is it you're paying and then you work with us and there is an all the rest I mean come on come on so that's my point this sense of entitlement that we think that everything is good to pay for everything in places where things work people pay I mean I mean I mean I get you I hear you would see when you see how much are we paying but then even with the amount of money that or rather how cheap and affordable it is how many people can actually afford it you see in America people can't afford to go to university people cannot let's be clear right that people cannot afford if we're having a conversation about primary education or secondary education you could take me on but you see university but students we have learned from the time of Ukraine because that time when they had that problem as well students had to bear back and no people who were studying medicine in Ukraine and then had to come back to Nigeria and it's been almost for two years now and they haven't gone back to school they're just confused they don't know what to do they should have to go and write jam again or if I have about two or three friends work entirely confused now about the next steps they can is very depressing for them so you see this thing now see boils back to we say we shouldn't condemn our government it's not condemning it is just proper planning and asking for the bare minimum what plans have been put in place okay fine we need to have contingency but that's the thing I've seen we don't have contingency plans in this country we don't so what happens okay I was talking to you about policies and I said their policies but these policies are not implemented because I want to believe that it's a policy about evacuation and what should happen to the people going into the implementation there is a problem back to the country what's supposed to happen isn't there a process isn't there so when they like what's supposed to happen is like doing covid we knew what and what needs to be done per time right so if somebody that's the same thing so why is that there is no plan we say don't blame the government don't you pull that talk about the government I understand but then is the government really doing what they are supposed to be doing in the first place but the process has stopped like can't put that hat that's why you want to expect so big process we want to have expectations a long time we go and nothing keeps I think we have a call anyway I think we have a call hi austin austin from been in hello austin oh we lost awesome okay hi austin good evening oh okay we've lost him all right so I was saying that the thing is that we don't make proper plans right I'm still seeing our expectation expectation means to lower what we lower in our expectations for a government that's supposed to be working for us again allow me to reiterate that there are four thousand UK citizens still in Sudan but so how do you know that they are going to come for them that's written would do something about did you pay for the boss they really come in i think austin is back now hello austin good evening good evening good evening good evening good evening hello yeah good evening austin please go ahead we can hear you in Sudan I would not have in Nigeria I mean the I mean the universities they have the don't we have the same universities in Nigeria I mean we won't have the study in there I mean Nigeria and you see the problem is we expect too much we're too much in this country and we don't we have a lot of universities in this country okay even if you're going to study Islamic studies for instance don't we have universities in Nigeria here where they do such courses let me just ask yourself what what what the university is in Sudan when we have so many state and federal universities in Nigeria are even cheaper and they get the same education and I want to commend my sister on the on the left for being objective in your analysis you know the truth is that we we we ask for too much we are looking for too much Nigerians are looking for too much I don't know what our problem is and then somebody just call from a partner and saying oh Nigeria is this and that and that and that that's not true that's not true you can't be running down your country like that thank you good evening thank you very much looking for too much in the real sense of what I was looking for them in my life don't let me don't let me I mean how about you pay in taxes this says to me the crisis has already taken place in Nigeria sorry to me the crisis has already taken place in Nigeria government the Nigerian government's path to rescue them which is 1.2 million dollars was earmarked for it every opportunity whether in crisis or for good government officials want to loot and no accountability and investigation I can bet you they will go scot-free so this says India and Britain have the largest population of people jackwine from their country to the US and Dubai okay it doesn't really give context but it says we have three million Nigerians living in Sudan how do we evacuate them or wow three million that's a lot three million are you serious yeah that's a lot okay dami um sorry at average I was doing the math uh what is it three thousand dollars per person and for that one point two million so times it by three million all of you start let's just shop down this country we found out they said it is that one in all of the three million eight thousand two thousand nine seven there you want to add this one to legacy all right um to me the crisis has already taken place um is Nigerian government part of is Nigerian government part to rest is Nigerian government part to rescue them which 1.2 million dollars was earmarked for it earmarked for it every opportunity whether in crisis or for good government officials want to loot and no accountability and investigation I can bet you they will go scot-free I think that's the same comment yeah okay let me just say comment then good evening ladies please I was in Sudan 2008 that country is poor we should educate ourselves and fix our educational sector thanks Ayo from just thank you very much Ayo thank you so much for this comment you see this is what I'm saying instead of us saying oh let's applaud this way let's applaud this way the thing is let's tell them to also fix what it is that they want to fix because the truth is that if our educational sector was working the way it should be working do you think people really want to go to Sudan you think people really want to go to but there are products of this same education system that are doing so well at global have you heard how many people have registered for jam this year over I think about two million people do you know how many people are going to get admission to universities this year so no sorry where in the world does he say that that you applied for investment means that you get no we see I'm just trying to talk about I mean we're not talking about primary or secondary school here again look how many universities do you have well true what is the average intake in a university and we look less joy and focus on our focus literally right it is this sense that everybody will do something or the numbers that we're growing there is a reason why university education go and look at the history even in America why did why did university education become mainstream America America was trying to compete with Russia to go to the moon yeah right to send to send the satellite into space and they started to make education affordable yeah today the Americans that go to university are dying under the weight of the debt that they are in to get that education well you're right university education is not for everybody a well-rounded education system involves education involves vocational vocational vocational because these um these experiences are designed to fill gaps in yeah you know workforce in the nation and what is needed so the fact that you are now saying to me that two million people want to go to university we are the jobs for the two million people to go into when they graduate we are saying the same thing we are saying that we also need to understand that our our expectations are skewed we need to sort of broaden our horizons you know what what is happening if we pump out two million graduates today where are you going to put them there will be a lot of unemployment we will have it yeah true is it the banks is it the telcos how many i think the question is if we have to recreate more employment opportunities stimulate the economy get this people realizing that there's so many things that you can do i mean these people have countries that have proper vocational systems people can i mean there are countries in the world today that are looking for carpenters looking for people and people are not thinking i don't want to aspire to be a plumber yeah but he doesn't that come back to the government how many vocational colleges do we have so you can whatever you want to piggyback you know it's like the devil can't blame you can't piggyback and still come back to the government everything is the government's fault we've heard face your phone okay good evening my dear beautiful sisters of what are you going to do safety and evacuation like my dear beautiful sister dami said if our educational system is good here in india why do people have to go abroad people relocate abroad because our educational system is bad and tonight so the question is our god is our government willing to deliver well he will fail to plan plans to fail for crying out loud what is so special about investments to do if we have good university in india my dear beautiful sister uti made mention of getting what we pay for i agree i'm so happy and excited having uti back in the studio i think that next reason on the statesman's my name is daniel you always thank you so much daniel okay i mean i i think this comment is been a very interesting you know we look at it from different angles clearly uti is not having this okay thank you for joining us tonight but before we go do ensure you follow us on instagram at weishu africa you can interact with us further drop a comment and most importantly follow all our social media engagements and remember to like share comment and invite your friends and family to watch us and follow us if you miss today's quote here it is again they are still in kathum and nema nigeria has sorted all payments it to see but there are still a few logistical delays they will likely proceed early morning safer to leave early morning because it was situation is not a normal situation and we're all anxiously waiting to receive them and this was by the chairperson indians of the asperger commission honorable abike that be very well all right so see you tomorrow at 8 p.m as we bring another great conversation see you all scream