Bulgarian Universities Offer Admission To Nigerians Fleeing Ukraine

Bulgarian Ambassador to Nigeria, Yanko Yardonov, says Bulgarian universities are offering admission to Nigerian students whose academic pursuits in Ukraine were cut short by Russia’s invasion.

Yardonov also said that some Nigerian citizens had been offered jobs by Bulgarian universities.

The Bulgarian ambassador disclosed this in an interview with the journalists in Abuja.

Prior to the onset of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, approximately 4,300 Nigerian students were studying in the eastern European country.

The number was the fifth-largest (5.4%) of the 80,000 international students in Ukraine, according to data from Ukraine’s ministry of education and science.

The students have said before that they found Ukrainian education’s appeal mostly in its affordability, a better standard of life, and the safe environment it provided.

Although the envoy did not say how many Nigerian students have been offered admission, he said the decision was to help create an atmosphere conducive for the scholars to study without interruptions and to solidify the bilateral cooperation agreement in place between Nigeria and Bulgaria.

He acknowledged the good relationship that Nigeria and Bulgaria have enjoyed over the years, saying that available statistics indicated that a significant number of Nigerians had been allowed to travel to Bulgaria and reside in the country either on a short-term basis or for the long term.