NIGERIAN STUDENTS SAY IT’S ‘AMAZING TO BE BACK’ IN REGINA
REGINA — At almost every point in their long journey back to Regina, Nigerian students Favour Amadi and Victoria Ordu wondered if someone would tap them on the shoulder and send them packing yet again.
The tension heightened at the Toronto airport — their entry point into Canada — when it seemed to take longer than usual to process paperwork for the two young foreign students. They had voluntarily heeded a deportation order and left the country last October after more than a year in sanctuary.
But when they stepped off the plane in Regina this weekend and into the arms of people who had supported them throughout their ordeal — then Amadi and Ordu knew they had truly made it.
“It’s really amazing to be back here,” Amadi, 23, said Saturday. “It just unbelievable.”
A day after their incredible journey, Amadi and Ordu shared more details in an interview with the Leader-Post. Amadi recalled telling Ordu at one point during the trip from Nigeria, to Germany to Canada that, “It’s not going to set in until I sleep and wake up and stare at myself in the mirror, and (say) ‘Yes, I’m in Canada.
“When I got to the airport, I was completely surprised,” she added. “Those people have been with us from the very beginning.”
Had their University of Regina studies never been interrupted two years ago, this weekend they likely would have convocated. They are ecstatic for the second chance.
“We thank God everything turned out well,” said Ordu, 21.
“Thank you” was a word repeated often — for churches that sheltered them, a myriad of people who took up their cause, and even for the baby — still in utero when mom came out to rallies — who wore a tiny blue T-shirt of support at the airport.
Amadi and Ordu, who began their U of R studies in 2009, unwittingly ran afoul of immigration rules when the students briefly took part-time, off-campus jobs in 2011 to help with their expenses.
Ironically, the law was changed in January — their immigration consultant Kay Adebogun believes in response to their case — but it was too late for the pair.
After the Canada Border Services Agency issued deportation orders, the women sought sanctuary in a Regina church on June 19, 2012 and were hopeful their deportation order would quickly be overturned. Students, faculty, Wascana Liberal MP Ralph Goodale and the Saskatchewan Party were among those who lobbied Ottawa — to no avail. The women left after 486 days in sanctuary.
“We felt like the whole fight had been in vain ... We just accepted our fate,” said Amadi.
The heartbreak of leaving without a degree was tempered only by the joy at reuniting with family.
U of R president Timmons lobbied hard before and after the women’s departure. “You’re back! You’re back!” she exclaimed Saturday at the airport where she hugged and kissed the women. Wiping tears from her face, Timmons gave each of them U of R hoodies, portfolios and notebooks.
“My heart broke when that was taken away from them and now that gift has been given back to them. It’s especially important for young women from Nigeria. Education for them will change not only their lives, but change the pathway for the next generations,” Timmons said.
“These two young women have shown bravery and courage and when they honoured the deportation order. My job was then to make sure that we facilitated them coming home to Regina,” she said.
She complimented the Government of Nigeria for ensuring the women returned with their full scholarships.
Adebogun had an inkling in April the students would be able to return — but those plans weren’t firm until they received their passports just eight hours before they were due to leave Nigeria on Friday.
“We had to get it right. We didn’t want to take any risk,” he said.
He believes continuing public pressure helped pave the way.
“No one would have known anything about it if they had left quietly,” he added.