The Nigerian who fled Ukraine and represented Hungary at a European football tournament
|Image: “This tournament is one of the best experiences I’ve had since coming to Europe.” HWC/Rebecca Corbett
“I want to show Europe that there are great footballers in Africa”
James Nwankwo represented Hungary at the Wroclaw Cup in Poland in July. The annual tournament which returned for the first time after the pandemic was organised by our Polish partner, Stowarzyszenie Reprezentacja Polski Bezdomnych (Polish Homeless National Street Soccer Team Association).
If you told 22-year-old James Nwankwo a year ago he’d be representing Hungary at a European football tournament he would have looked at you blankly with confusion.
In July 2021, the Nigerian student was living in Ukrainian city Ternópil having just finished his first year at university doing mechanical engineering.
When the Russian war broke out in Ukraine, James was one of the millions who were forced to flee.
“I stayed at the [Polish] border for five days; it was so difficult, there was no food, we had to eat ice.”
James and his friends started to lose hope and decided to try and go to Hungary, crossing the border at Uzhhorod they were given food and free transport to Budapest.
But the easy start to life in Hungary didn’t continue. James is now homeless and living on the street in the Hungarian capital.
“The bad part about Hungary is that they don’t let us refugees work”
When he arrived, he was living in temporary accommodation and even won a scholarship to restart his degree at a university in Budapest, however with no paperwork confirmed for his course, he is currently in limbo while he waits. In July he was forced to leave the hostel he had been staying at.
“The bad part about Hungary is that they don’t let us refugees work, so it’s very difficult for us now to look for places to live, because houses are so expensive, and we don’t have work.
“Coming here [to the Wroclaw Cup] was the only time I could sleep, before this I didn’t sleep for three days, I was on the street. The experience is very good playing at this tournament.”
He explains many people in his position have chosen to move to the Netherlands because they give refugees a work permit for a year and support people with accommodation. However, James is determined to build a life in Hungary.
A key part of this is his new football team which is organised by Homeless World Cup partner, Oltalom Sports Association.
“I don’t like the situation where I am just going from country to country and asking for help. I want to stay in Hungary until I get my permit. Hungary has been a nice country to me, and to all the other guys from Ukraine too.”
“I think my dream is actually coming to pass”
Despite his incredibly challenging circumstances, James is set on staying positive and relishing the opportunity of playing football at a European tournament.
“It was my dream to come to Europe and go to different countries, so I think my dream is actually coming to pass.
“This is a privilege for me because when I was in Ukraine I couldn’t travel to other countries - now I am in Poland.”
He’s proud to share that he has been playing in a European tournament and has been sharing the YouTube live stream with his friends and family who are watching from Nigeria.
“I can go back and watch and see myself playing and show my friends that I’m playing in Europe. This tournament is one of the best experiences I’ve had since coming to Europe.”
When the war broke out in Ukraine, James faced a decision – to stay in Europe and try and build a life in a new country, or to return to Nigeria. For him, it was clear, despite life being very hard in Europe and him being alone, going back to Nigeria simply wasn’t an option.
“Life in Nigeria is terrible right now. There are many bad things happening due to the government – bad governance, bad economy. If you go back, you have to start again and going from Nigeria to Europe isn’t easy.”
It’s also expensive, James explains his parents had to sacrifice a lot for him to come and study in Europe. But he’s determined to make a success of it, whether as a mechanical engineer, or as a professional footballer.
|“I am going to become the footballer in our family. If my uncles couldn’t make it, I am going to make it.” Image: HWC/Rebecca Corbett
“My dream is to become a footballer”
“For me, I won’t lie – mechanical engineering is my father’s choice – my dream is to become a footballer. My uncles taught me to play football when I was a little kid.”
His uncles didn’t have the chance to come to Europe after their visa money was stolen by people posing as officials. So, James says he is living all their dreams by playing football in Europe.
“I am going to become the footballer in our family. If my uncles couldn’t make it, I am going to make it.
“There are so many players like me in Africa, but bad governments killed their career. They see there is no hope for them to go to Europe, so they start to do bad things like committing crimes.”
While he’s not letting go of his childhood dreams, James is ambitious about his future regardless of if he becomes a footballer or not.
“If it doesn’t work out, I am going to work on cars. I would like to make electric cars; I know there are brands already, but I want to make my own brand.”
Talking about the difficulties Nigeria is facing, there are two fundamental changes James believes will help to improve the country.
“In Europe there is light every day”
“First we need electricity. You maybe have light for 20 minutes and then you don’t see lights for two days. In Europe there is light every day.”
Second, James says is a change of government – which he explains is impossible to speak about openly when you’re in Nigeria.
“We can’t have someone who is 90 ruling a country. He just wants to take the money and go. You can’t say anything, if you say anything in Nigeria, they will kill you. Everyone is quiet. We need to bring in a new government. We need to stop them because they are engaging us in corruption. There is so much corruption in Nigeria.”
But despite the struggles in his home country, he is proud to represent Nigeria and show that it is a nation of footballers; “I want to show Europe that there are still great footballers in Africa.”
On his shirt are the words, ‘Football for Hope’ and with the help of Oltalom Sports Association, now James can find hope, not only on the pitch, but for his future too.
Find out more about Oltalom Sports Association and how they’re using sport to change lives in Hungary.
Words: Rebecca Corbett