Editorial
One of the greatest recent challenges facing the leaders and various strata of government in Nigeria is the new found neo slavery of her nationals in other parts of the globe as exemplified in the recent discovery of slave market in Libya and other Asian countries and continental Europe mainly Italy.
Slave trade has been abolished over four centuries ago all over the globe but it is shameful, disturbing and worrisome that in the past half a century since 1966, great many Nigerians owing to un-conducive political atmosphere at home, have found themselves into slavery, prostitution and various crimes that have landed them in jail in several parts of the word. Some to untimely and unsung graves.
Today, the situation is very precarious and uncontrollable. The Nigerian government is presently faced with the challenges of Internal Displaced Persons (IDP) occasioned by insecurity due to insurgency, militancy and violent protests. Externally, the nation is faced with mass migration to other countries by her nationals who are searching for safer havens or greener pastures due to insecurity of lives and property in their home, country, hunger, starvation, joblessness, lack of shelter and protection. It began with urban renewal migration then to mass migration to other countries of the world that Nigeria and Nigerians began to assume an anathemas and stinking name in foreign lands. It has reduced the image of Nigeria and her nations to nought in the face of civilized/developed countries of the world in Africa, Europe and today Asia.
Time was when the green passport was a stigma in American and European Embassies. Nigerians have become victims of hostilities in other nations where they have been found to constitute nuisance including poor African countries, like Libya, Egypt, Kenya and Ghana.
Sometime ago, Nigerians invaded old gold coast (now Ghana), then little Equatorial Guinea. Here, they were maltreated and manhandled out of the Cameroon and they took flight to Gabon where today they are equally a pariah of sorts and unwanted and unwelcomed immigrants. Then their offsprings ran for shelter in South Africa where the Zulus under Jacob Zuma made a mess of them and their belongings. Xenophobia was the word and the South Africans never spared any opportunity to unleash hatred or death on Nigerians.
Today, what is making the waves is massive influx of Nigerians into United Arab Emirate, Malaysia, Indonesia, South Korea, Qatar, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, Span and so on. Most of these nations are poorer than Nigeria but have or operate good government, disciplined administration and practice rule of law with adequate security and proper welfare packages for their own nationals which are usually infected or corrupted by these fleeing self exiled Nigerians. As said earlier, the recent Lybia examples seem to have opened the eyes of Nigerian leaders, authorities or government to these self inflicted injuries, abuses and shameful exposures.
It is time we looked inwards for self examination to ascertain the causes for these gradual massive rural urban and across border or intercontinental migrations. These unfortunate Nigerians are out in search of shelter, food, work, security and continuity of their generation but in most cases, usually end up in the hands of draconian laws of other countries where they are carelessly killed, sold into slavery or forced into prostitution or other crimes to survive.
The authorities in Nigeria have embarked on mere exercise repatriation and rehabilitation and those horrendous experience but that the solution. Nigeria as exemplified by the state of Imo, is a nation blessed by God and endowed by nature with the bounties of life to carter for her nationals only if her leaders will learn to fear God, love their fellow beings, eschew pride, arrogance, corruption, selfishness, power, drunkenness and turn a new leaf to practice good governance, respect, rule of law and embrace civilization. Good governance, self actualization is the only antidote to this continued migration which began in the late sixties with the brain drain of Nigeria nationals, and intellectuals.
