Sir: Over the years, Nigerians have been trafficked to foreign countries with the promise of better opportunities. Over 90% of the victims are women who are often subjected to sexual abuse or forced into prostitution.
The unceasing cases of human trafficking is fueled by the low economic standard of living in Nigeria and the perceived lack of opportunities when compared to other developed countries. Aside regular channels of trafficking Nigerians, there have been a surge in the number of Nigerians who voyage through the Mediterranean sea and the Sahara desert in a life threatening attempt to enter Europe.
Majority of Nigerians fleeing the country or being trafficked are women, unemployed graduates, traders and artisans that are fed up with the meager returns of their efforts due to the economic conditions of the countries. Equally, the younger group are those whose parents or guardians cannot train and are lured by promises of a brighter future abroad or some sort of financial rewards.
Nigerians are leaving Nigeria, for education, for the better life, for sports, for healthcare, for every reason available… Nigerians are seeking education in places such as the Ukraine, Bahrain, Cyprus, Nigerian footballers now go as far as Brazil, I mean the mighty ‘football-ing’ Brazil, not to talk of Iran, Kuwait and Madagascar. The labour market in places as remote as Auckland, Sydney, New Zealand are full of Nigerian academics.
Where went the self belief? On my last visit to the Bauchi Yankari Park I went through the statistics of inflow of foreign tourists and it was a sad decline with each passing year as the figures dropped. Many Nigerians would rather a holiday in Dubai than Obudu Cattle Ranch. Nigerians are the bane of Nigeria; we have a long time lost belief in ourselves.
Why do we have to leave our country for other people’s nation because the system there works? Despite the racism and cultural problems we still prefer them, and in preferring them we for once forget that these people built their systems and they paid the price and in cases are using us to build them systems.
If the country recovers from this economic hardship through pragmatic policies, and the people are empowered with education and entrepreneurial skills, the cases of irregular migration and human trafficking will drastically reduce. Did I add the need for critical partnerships across board, the media, bodies like NAPTIP, IOM and government at all levels possesses a stake that can be of immerse value in curbing the ills of irregular migration.
- Prince Charles Dickson, PhD,
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