BY AFOLABI GAMBARI
A visit to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos departure hall depicts a market-like atmosphere. First time visitors could believe that the lot of people either came into the hall to see off loved ones or are just on a casual visit to the place. However, a closer observation would soon reveal that travellers are more than those accompanying them to say ‘safe trip’. Further probing would reveal desperate faces eager to get into the departure lounge on to the aircrafts and then take to the skies to God-knows-where.
Some of the travellers would also volunteer words, if prodded even a little. “This country wastes its human resources and I just can’t wait to get out of here,” one would say with a grim posture. “I know it would be hard over there but I am also sure it would be worth more than staying back here and getting frustrated every day,” another would chip in. To the non-travelers, there is only one question that stands out like a sore thumb: why are they leaving when they are not really sure what awaits them where they are headed? The answer can’t be far-fetched, though it can still be, depending on the honesty or otherwise in providing the answer. There is something unmistakable. That is, there are people who believe that things are fast falling apart in Nigeria, especially when it comes to meeting basic needs. As risky as the venture of migrating without requisite documents is sure to be, there are still humane people at the other end who just cannot afford to see fellow humans suffer. Not without a huge sacrifice, anyway.
In meeting the migrants’ needs, however, lots of problems have been created for the home governments. The Nigerian migrants have been less considerate in dealing with the host governments than they are in desperate move to leave Nigeria. In Europe, there has been a unanimous decision that the solution to the migrant crisis cannot be delayed further in view of its escalation in recent months, particularly as it concerns the vulnerable among the African migrants who include children, pregnant women and sundry others. It took a summit of European Union heads of government in Brussels, Belgium on June 28 and 29 to avert a migrant crisis. A deal reached at the summit could have caused a serious setback as the EU leaders failed to agree on the details of how the African migrants would be shared among member countries. Nonetheless, it was agreed that the summit would address the finer details which include carefully separating genuine asylum seekers from regular migrants. To this date, not a cogent reaction has come from the Nigerian government in acknowledging the EU measure. To be sure, there was still reaction, though it was feeble, to say the very least. President Muhammadu Buhari, apparently under pressure from the EU on the need to stem the illegal migration of Nigerians to Europe, declared that the citizens of his country who defied the odds to cross Mediterranean into Europe were on their own. “Our administration will not condone indiscipline or illegality and therefore will not support the illegal migration in any way,” he told visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Abuja last August. In October, Buhari also offered a reaction on the issue as the Namibian Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Peingeondjabi Shipoh, paid him a visit at the Aso Villa in Abuja. “Illegal migration of our people to Europe, all in the bid to take up menial jobs, hurts our country’s pride,” he told his guest, although he also stated that Nigeria would give aid to its citizens who were trapped in odds and would be evacuated home when the need arose. Whether or not it was lip service, Buhari also said: “Our government is doing everything possible to make Nigeria liveable for all.”
Nigeria has contributed the largest number of African migrants into Europe at 387,739 (according to December 2017 estimates) and it is a pervasive opinion that the migration owes mainly to the unfavourable economic and living conditions at home.
In recent weeks, the Senior Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Diaspora Matters, Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has made giant strides in either interceding for some Nigerian illegal immigrants facing raw deals abroad or overseeing the deportation of others who fall foul of the immigration laws of the countries they have migrated to. Despite her efforts, there is a steady increase in the number of Nigerians seeking greener pastures in Europe with no legal documents to back up their quest. Last July alone, about 29 of them were deported from Belgium, Norway, Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Lithuania over immigration irregularities.
So where do we go from here. First, the Nigerian Government must conduct a realistic study of the exact situations that are driving the country’s citizens away from their country. Secondly, governments at all levels here must collaborate to stem the tide of illegal migration through realistic youth oriented economic programmes that will put virtually all hands on some trade, business and even on the plough. Thirdly, the foreign governments that are now bearing the brunt of illegal immigration cannot just sit down there complaining about the burden that they are now bearing. It is high time that they worked with African governments to combine equitable bilateral economic relations and with joint action plan to drastically reduce poverty in Africa. What is happening now about illegal migration from Africa into Europe is partly due to the European mentality of keeping this part of the world perpetually economically inferior to their own land flowing with ‘milk and honey’. Meanwhile, it is up to the Africans too to rise against their political leaders that are sending billions of dollars stolen from public treasury to their illicit bank accounts abroad, a matter that Thabo Mbeki, a former South African President is handling now on behalf of African Union. EU for its own part should seize the money and repatriate the funds back to Africa as a lesson to those who are in power that they no longer have a safe haven to hide their loots.
BY AFOLABI GAMBARI
A visit to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos departure hall depicts a market-like atmosphere. First time visitors could believe that the lot of people either came into the hall to see off loved ones or are just on a casual visit to the place. However, a closer observation would soon reveal that travellers are more than those accompanying them to say ‘safe trip’. Further probing would reveal desperate faces eager to get into the departure lounge on to the aircrafts and then take to the skies to God-knows-where.
Some of the travellers would also volunteer words, if prodded even a little. “This country wastes its human resources and I just can’t wait to get out of here,” one would say with a grim posture. “I know it would be hard over there but I am also sure it would be worth more than staying back here and getting frustrated every day,” another would chip in. To the non-travelers, there is only one question that stands out like a sore thumb: why are they leaving when they are not really sure what awaits them where they are headed? The answer can’t be far-fetched, though it can still be, depending on the honesty or otherwise in providing the answer. There is something unmistakable. That is, there are people who believe that things are fast falling apart in Nigeria, especially when it comes to meeting basic needs. As risky as the venture of migrating without requisite documents is sure to be, there are still humane people at the other end who just cannot afford to see fellow humans suffer. Not without a huge sacrifice, anyway.
In meeting the migrants’ needs, however, lots of problems have been created for the home governments. The Nigerian migrants have been less considerate in dealing with the host governments than they are in desperate move to leave Nigeria. In Europe, there has been a unanimous decision that the solution to the migrant crisis cannot be delayed further in view of its escalation in recent months, particularly as it concerns the vulnerable among the African migrants who include children, pregnant women and sundry others. It took a summit of European Union heads of government in Brussels, Belgium on June 28 and 29 to avert a migrant crisis. A deal reached at the summit could have caused a serious setback as the EU leaders failed to agree on the details of how the African migrants would be shared among member countries. Nonetheless, it was agreed that the summit would address the finer details which include carefully separating genuine asylum seekers from regular migrants. To this date, not a cogent reaction has come from the Nigerian government in acknowledging the EU measure. To be sure, there was still reaction, though it was feeble, to say the very least. President Muhammadu Buhari, apparently under pressure from the EU on the need to stem the illegal migration of Nigerians to Europe, declared that the citizens of his country who defied the odds to cross Mediterranean into Europe were on their own. “Our administration will not condone indiscipline or illegality and therefore will not support the illegal migration in any way,” he told visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Abuja last August. In October, Buhari also offered a reaction on the issue as the Namibian Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Peingeondjabi Shipoh, paid him a visit at the Aso Villa in Abuja. “Illegal migration of our people to Europe, all in the bid to take up menial jobs, hurts our country’s pride,” he told his guest, although he also stated that Nigeria would give aid to its citizens who were trapped in odds and would be evacuated home when the need arose. Whether or not it was lip service, Buhari also said: “Our government is doing everything possible to make Nigeria liveable for all.”
Nigeria has contributed the largest number of African migrants into Europe at 387,739 (according to December 2017 estimates) and it is a pervasive opinion that the migration owes mainly to the unfavourable economic and living conditions at home.
In recent weeks, the Senior Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Diaspora Matters, Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has made giant strides in either interceding for some Nigerian illegal immigrants facing raw deals abroad or overseeing the deportation of others who fall foul of the immigration laws of the countries they have migrated to. Despite her efforts, there is a steady increase in the number of Nigerians seeking greener pastures in Europe with no legal documents to back up their quest. Last July alone, about 29 of them were deported from Belgium, Norway, Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Lithuania over immigration irregularities.
So where do we go from here. First, the Nigerian Government must conduct a realistic study of the exact situations that are driving the country’s citizens away from their country. Secondly, governments at all levels here must collaborate to stem the tide of illegal migration through realistic youth oriented economic programmes that will put virtually all hands on some trade, business and even on the plough. Thirdly, the foreign governments that are now bearing the brunt of illegal immigration cannot just sit down there complaining about the burden that they are now bearing. It is high time that they worked with African governments to combine equitable bilateral economic relations and with joint action plan to drastically reduce poverty in Africa. What is happening now about illegal migration from Africa into Europe is partly due to the European mentality of keeping this part of the world perpetually economically inferior to their own land flowing with ‘milk and honey’. Meanwhile, it is up to the Africans too to rise against their political leaders that are sending billions of dollars stolen from public treasury to their illicit bank accounts abroad, a matter that Thabo Mbeki, a former South African President is handling now on behalf of African Union. EU for its own part should seize the money and repatriate the funds back to Africa as a lesson to those who are in power that they no longer have a safe haven to hide their loots.