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- FG may review Lagos-Ibadan Expressway concession
- Soyinka, Agbeyegbe ask court to void 1999 Constitution
- PDP’ll win Bayelsa, Sokoto, C/River - Jonathan •15,000 security personnel for Bayelsa poll tomorrow
- Salami knows fate as NJC meets Feb 29
- Senate backs post-UTME
- Scrapping of TASUED is unfortunate - Adebanjo
- Committee on police reorganisation meets IGP •Set to flush out bad eggs
- I was bribed to nail Al-Mustapha, says Katako
- Borno Speaker impeached
- Boko Haram: Security beefed up in Lagos
- Husbands petition IGP over wives’ postings
- S/Court ruling: Gov Lamido, others relocate to Abuja
- Ekiti assembly scraps office of minority leader
- Akerele mourns Aluko, Mbu, Dantata •As ex-Ekiti commissioner mourns Aluko
Deportation: To your country, O Nigerians
Written by Shola Adekola Wednesday, 01 September 2010
Nigeria is presently one of the top producers of crude oil in the world, but its citizens are amongst the poorest as a larger percentage lives below poverty line. In seeking better life, Nigerians travel to other countries, often illegally. Shola Adekola writes on the deportation of Nigerians from these countries.
ORDINARILY, Nigeria should be counted among the richest nations in view of the natural resources given to it by God Almighty; ironically there is nothing to show for these gifts, a situation that has portrayed the country as a nation where its citizens suffer in the midst of plenty.
Sadly, Nigeria, which has all it takes to compete with any country in the world, has been reduced to rubble courtesy of bad leadership since its independence, a situation which has taken its negative toll on its citizens across all cadres.
The situation has deteriorated to the extent that many Nigerians, particularly the youth, as a way of finding alternatives to survive the avoidable hardship inflicted on them due to mismanagement of the nation’s resources by a few, have decided to look for greener pastures elsewhere.
In seeking greener pastures, the harsh economic reality is driving the citizenry into taking menial jobs outside the shores of the country and in achieving this, the number of Nigerians going out of the country on a daily basis through legal and illegal means has become a source of concern to other Nigerians, but unfortunately, the government seems not to care.
More worrisome is the fact that it is at the same rate that Nigerians are trooping out of the country that many of them are being deported home by the various countries which often base their reasons for the deportation on flimsy excuses that should embarrass well meaning Nigerians, including the government.
In the last one year, the number of Nigerians so far deported from across the globe has risen to over 12,000.
To show their desperation to leave the country, it is no longer news to hear different unpalatable stories of how many Nigerian youths had to travel through the desert for months to get to border countries like Libya for the purpose of transiting to Europe .
The bulk of these people who do not have adequate travel documents are made to congregate in a manhole constructed for them on the outskirts of Tripoli, Libyan capital by their agents where movements of such illegal immigrants are restricted waiting hopelessly for an opportunity to transit to other countries, an opportunity which in most cases never came.
While in these dangerous camps, their agents in these strange camps subject the desperate Nigerians to inhuman treatment which often result in death or their being sentenced to jails while some who out of desperation chose to make attempt to cross the desert have either been devoured by wild animals or got drowned in the Mediterranean with their dream.
Notwithstanding all these gory tales, the rate at which Nigerians are being deported by various countries is becoming embarrassing to airport users particularly those at the Murtala Muhammed Airport .
There is no doubt that the immigration officers and other law enforcement agents at the Lagos airport must have become overwhelmed with the number of deportees everyday.
Many of these deportees have been accused of not having adequate travel papers, drug trafficking, prostitution while even some who fall under the category of asylum seekers are also deported. Those who are not that lucky to be deported are either serving various jail terms or some are awaiting hangman’s noose.
More worrisome is the fact that the number of those being deported is swelling by the day, a situation that is compounding the high rate of unemployment in the country.
Top on the list of such countries that are notorious for deportation of Nigerians is Libya which has deported over 3,000 Nigerians between last year and now while within the same period, over 2,000 have been deported from various parts of Europe .
From investigations, the closeness of Libya to both Italy and the Mediterranean Sea has been its major attraction to Nigerians. No wonder that 90 per cent of prisoners in Zamwia Zamzu prison and prostitutes in Libya are said to be Nigerians.
Again, Libya has been allegedly notorious for killing most of the Africans who are said to be illegal immigrants while those who escape death by whiskers are subjected to dehumanising tortures.
Besides the inhuman treatment, many of the females are often subjected to rape while their money in foreign currencies are confiscated by the security personnel in the various countries.
Former minister of foreign affairs, Ojo Maduekwe, said in 2008 that about 59,000 Nigerians carrying illegal travel documents were waiting in transit African countries for an opportunity to cross over to Europe . According to him, 8,000 of this number were in Morocco , 16,000 in Algeria , 20,000 in Libya while 15,000 were in Mauritania .
According to Nigeria ’s ambassador to Libya , Alhaji Mohammed Ibrahim, “most Nigerians in Libya come through the Sahara Desert to the north African country and by the time they arrive here, they soon realise that it is almost a dead end and by this time, it is too late to go back.”
For the ladies, prostitution is the only way out while most male Nigerians arrested were in possession of substances suspected to be heroine.
The ambassador, who lamented the way the Nigerian youths move outside the country, declared how hundreds of the youths are being swallowed by the desert daily all in the name of travelling abroad by all means.
While this ugly national embarrassment continues, smaller African countries like Morocco , Algeria and Mauritania and the obviously poorer ones like Sudan and Equatorial Guinea have joined the countries that now deport Nigerians.
According to reports, in 2008, 1,469 Nigerians were hounded to various jails in the UK while between 1999 and 2002 more than 10,000 Nigerian migrants were said to have perished while attempting to travel to North Africa on their way to Europe.
Most of these deportees while fielding questions from the media often attributed reasons for travelling out to hardship and unemployment in Nigeria and in order to fend for themselves consequently choosen to use all means to achieve their dream while others decided to travel out having been tired of what they called Nigerian hostile environment towards youths.
A typical example of these tired youths was Tobor, who spoke to some journalists after his deportation on why he traveled. According to him, it was his father that encouraged him to relocate to Italy through Libya for which he paid an agent N300, 000.
One of such embarrassing deportations was the recent deportation of 58 Nigerian citizens from Khartoum by the Sudanese government.
The deportees, who were flown into Lagos in a chartered Air Libya aircraft, sparked off debate at the Lagos airport as most of them were mostly blind men, women and cripple who must have travelled to Sudan for alms begging.
It took the law enforcement agents at the Lagos airport hell of time to control them as many of them held on firmly to their walking sticks to find their way out of the international airport to the hajj camp side of the airport where they were expected to find their way to join their families.
Definitely, this ugly trend has been described as a national embarrassment and it has gone to portray the country in bad light in the comity of nations, a situation which has turned citizens of the country to laughing stock among other African countries who now question the claim that Nigeria is the giant on the continent.
The question now remains how can one react to the case where countries like Sudan now deports Nigerians?
This is pointing to one fact that many Nigerians, mostly youths, have lost confidence in the country as a result of the way its leaders have mismanaged the country without consideration for the future.
Amidst this anomaly, the federal government seems to be nonchalant towards the development, a situation which has only gone to show that government is insensitive to the plight of its nationals.
It is, however, pertinent for government to, at this juncture, look into the reasons given by these deported Nigerians as they affect what is expected of a government and how to make the country more comfortable for its citizens.
Again, while everybody has the right to choose where he or she wants to live to make ends meet, there is the need for government agencies like National Orientation Agency and Ministry of Information to embark on enlightenment campaign to educate Nigerians especially youths on the danger inherent in travelling illegally to these countries and again, they should be told that the streets of these foreign lands are not paved with gold and roses.
Above all, there is an urgent need for government to address infrastructural decay, erratic power supply, insecurity, political instability, unemployment which have all led to hostile business environment.
The need to address the issue urgently became imperative in the sense that fears are even being raised within the aviation industry presently as to the real status of those being deported to the country daily.
According to information gathered, those raising this fear have based their position on the ground that many of these deportees only claim to be Nigerians whereas they do not have Nigerian features as they can not be linked to any of the ethnic groups in Nigeria.
While some of these questionable deportees may be carrying deadly diseases, which they can spread, they may claim to be Nigerians for the purpose of hiding in the country to perpetrate heinous crimes.
Without tackling all these challenges, Nigerian government must be ready to lose many of its youths an d the remnant of is honour under similar circumstance that it will depict Nigeria as a failed and hopeless state.
Government needs to, if possible, set up committee made up of notable Nigerians home and abroad to look into the factors responsible for the migration of Nigerian youths away from the country and the hostility being meted out to Nigerians across the globe.
More worrisome is the fact that it is at the same rate that Nigerians are trooping out of the country that many of them are being deported by the various countries they ran to. These countries often give flimsy reasons for the deportation, something that should embarrass well meaning Nigerians, including the government.
In the last one year, the number of Nigerians so far deported from across the globe has risen to over 12,000.
To show their desperation to leave the country, it is no longer news to hear different unpalatable stories of how many Nigerian youths had to travel through the desert for months to get to border countries like Libya for the purpose of transiting to Europe.
The bulk of these people who do not have adequate travel documents are made to congregate in a manhole constructed for them on the outskirts of Tripoli, the Libyan capital, by their agents where movements of such illegal immigrants are restricted waiting hopelessly for an opportunity to transit to other countries, an opportunity which in most cases never came.
While in these dangerous camps, their agents in these subject the desperate Nigerians to inhuman treatments which often result in death or their being sentenced to jails while some who, out of desperation, attempt to cross the desert unaided, have either been devoured by wild animals or drowned in the Mediterranean with their dreams.
Notwithstanding all these gory tales, the rate at which Nigerians are being deported by various countries is becoming embarrassing to airport users, particularly those at the Murtala Muhammed Airport.
There is no doubt that the immigration officers and other law enforcement agents at the Lagos airport must have become overwhelmed by the number of deportees received daily.
Many of these deportees have been accused of not having adequate travel papers, drug trafficking, and prostitution, while some who even fall under the category of asylum seekers are also deported. Those who are not so lucky to be deported are either serving jail terms or are awaiting the hangman’s noose.
More worrisome is the fact that the number of those being deported is swelling by the day, a situation that is compounding the high rate of unemployment in the country.
Top on the list of such countries that are notorious for deportation of Nigerians is Libya which has deported over 3,000 Nigerians between 2009 and 2010, while within the same period, over 2,000 have been deported from various parts of Europe.
From investigations, the closeness of Libya to both Italy and the Mediterranean Sea has been its major attraction to Nigerians. Little wonder that about 90 per cent of prisoners in Zamwia Zamzu prison and prostitutes in Libya are said to be Nigerians.
Again, Libya is allegedly notorious for killing Africans who are illegal immigrants, while those who escape death are subjected to dehumanising tortures.
Besides the inhuman treatment, many of the females are often subjected to rape while their money in foreign currencies are confiscated by the security personnel in the various countries.
Former minister of foreign affairs, Ojo Maduekwe, said in 2008 that about 59,000 Nigerians carrying illegal travel documents were waiting in transit African countries for an opportunity to cross over to Europe . According to him, 8,000 of this number were in Morocco , 16,000 in Algeria , 20,000 in Libya and 15,000 were in Mauritania.
According to Nigeria ’s ambassador to Libya , Alhaji Mohammed Ibrahim, “most Nigerians in Libya come through the Sahara Desert to the north African country and by the time they arrive here, they realise that it is almost a dead end and by this time, it is too late to go back.”
For the ladies, prostitution is the only way out, while most male Nigerians arrested were in possession of substances suspected to be heroine.
The ambassador, who lamented the way the Nigerian youths leave the country, declared how hundreds of the youths are being swallowed by the desert daily, all in the name of travelling abroad by all means.
While this ugly national embarrassment continues, smaller African countries like Morocco , Algeria and Mauritania, and obviously poorer ones like Sudan and Equatorial Guinea have joined the countries that now deport Nigerians.
According to reports, in 2008, 1,469 Nigerians were hounded to various jails in the UK, while between 1999 and 2002, more than 10,000 Nigerian migrants were said to have perished while attempting to travel to North Africa on their way to Europe.
Most of these deportees, while fielding questions from reporters, often attributed reasons for travelling out to hardship and unemployment in Nigeria. In order to fend for themselves, therefore, they decided to travel out having been tired of what they called Nigeria’s hostile environment towards youths.
A typical example of these tired youths is Tobor, who spoke to some journalists after his deportation. According to him, it was his father that encouraged him to relocate to Italy through Libya, a service for which he paid an agent N300, 000.
One of such embarrassing deportations was the recent deportation of 58 Nigerian citizens from Khartoum by the Sudanese government.
The deportees, who were flown into Lagos in a chartered Air Libya aircraft, sparked off debate at the Lagos airport as most of them were mostly blind men, women and cripple who must have travelled to Sudan for alms begging.
It took the law enforcement agents at the Lagos airport a lot of time to control them as many of them held on firmly to their walking sticks to find their way out of the international wing to the hajj camp side of the airport, where they were expected to find their way to join their families.
Definitely, this ugly trend has been described as a national embarrassment and it has gone to portray the country in bad light in the comity of nations, a situation which has turned citizens of the country to laughing stock among other African countries who now question the claim that Nigeria is the giant on the continent.
The question that now remains is that, how can one react to the case where countries like Sudan now deport Nigerians?
This points to the fact that many Nigerians, mostly youths, have lost confidence in the country as a result of the way its leaders have mismanaged the country without consideration for the future.
Dr. Muyiwa Odebowale of the Department of Sociology, University of Ibadan, said that one of the major causes of Nigerians leaving the country in large numbers is low self esteem. He said that the poor economic condition makes the people feel that they cannot succeed in the country.
He said, “we are in a country of social critics, where virtually everyone sees nothing good in the country. In their bid to leave the country, therefore, people are ready to do almost anything to get to any other country that offer better prospects.”
He stated that, “things are so bad that you even hear people giving testimonies of getting visas to other countries in churches. Some people feel that they have better chances of making it outside the shores of this country, and they leave fairly good jobs for uncertainty in foreign lands.”
Amidst this anomaly, the federal government seems to be nonchalant, a situation which has only gone to show that government is insensitive to the plight of its nationals.
It is, however, pertinent for government to, at this juncture, look into the reasons given by these deported Nigerians as they affect what is expected of a government and how to make the country more comfortable for its citizens.
Above all, there is an urgent need for government to address infrastructural decay, erratic power supply, insecurity, political instability and unemployment, among other things, which have all led to hostile business environment.
The need to address the issue urgently became imperative in the sense that fears are even being raised within the aviation industry presently as to the real status of those being deported to the country daily.
According to information gathered, those raising this fears have based it on the grounds that many of these deportees only claim to be Nigerians, whereas they do not have Nigerian features as they can not be linked to any of the ethnic groups in Nigeria.
While some of these questionable deportees may be carrying deadly diseases, which they can spread, they may claim to be Nigerians for the purpose of hiding in the country to perpetrate heinous crimes.
Without tackling all these challenges, Nigerian government must be ready to lose many of its youths and the remnant of its honour under similar circumstance that will depict Nigeria as a failed and hopeless state.
Government needs to, if possible, set up a committee made up of notable Nigerians, home and abroad, to look into the factors responsible for the migration of Nigerian youths away from the country and the hostility being meted out to Nigerians across the globe.
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