22nd September, 2010
The desperate means some Nigerians, especially the youths, are adopting to escape to foreign lands in search of greener pastures, is worrisome. Something urgent must be done to correct the false impression that in South Africa, Europe or America, everything is milk and honey.
Last Saturday, for instance, a Nigerian youth hid in the wheel-well of Arik Airâ€
There were speculations that the deceased was helped by some security officials in Lagos to access the aircraft before passengers boarded it and hid there until it took off. Pilots and aeronautical engineers familiar with the compartment were flabbergasted, explaining that it is roomy enough to contain a human being.
The lack of oxygen in the compartment, they said, means that anybody that hid there cannot come out alive after several hours of flight.
It was argued that the body was not discovered in Johannesburg because the airline usually does a quick turnaround back to Lagos the following day.
“As we climb high, the temperature becomes low, getting below freezing level when the aircraft is cruising between 35,000 to 40,000 feet above sea level. The guy probably died due to lack of oxygen,†an expert said. Whatever the explanation, a precious life has been lost because of desperation and ignorance. The facts are there to show that life is becoming very hard in America, South Africa or Europe.
In the United States for instance, reports suggest that the ranks of the working-age poor have climbed to the highest level since the 1960s due to a global recession that has thrown millions of people out of work since last year. Reports say the situation over there is so bad that one out of seven Americans now live in poverty.
The unemployment rate in that country is now near 10 percent. The overall poverty rate there has climbed to 14.3 percent, or 43.6 million people, the U.S. Census Bureau said recently in its annual economic report. Yet, America is the place to be for deluded Nigerian and African youths.
In France, the unemployment rate has reached record levels and many Europeans are daily being deported by the French authorities. The unending deportations have created some frictions between France and Germany, with Germany excoriating France for being callous and insensitive. In Greece, the situation became so critical that there were daily street protests. Jobs became hard to come by and ordinary Greeks were looking for food to eat. The country has now been bailed out and salaries have been slashed. Foreigners now find it very difficult to get jobs.
In South Africa, many foreigners were attacked last year by South Africans who felt that jobs were going to foreigners. Many Nigerians were among the victims of the xenophobic attacks that left many dead. Even this year, many South Africans still took to the streets to show their exasperation over lack of jobs and worsening poverty.
Our youths must come to terms with the fact that life abroad is as hard as life in Nigeria. And even for those who reach Europe or America and live there legally, there is hardly anything they can save to justify the hard work after many years. With so many taxes and so much discrimination, it is so difficult to save money, build or buy a house and feel at home abroad. Most Nigerians abroad still feel like second-class citizens and cannot reach the same level of satisfaction that they will reach in Nigeria. Whether they are government or in the private sector abroad, most of them are still discriminated against.
The solution to our problems can hardly be found abroad. In any case, a lazy man in Nigeria cannot be hard working in America. We do not need to be in America to succeed. We can succeed in Nigeria. We can be happy in Nigeria. We can be fulfilled here at home if we are ready to go the extra mile.
But, it is worthy of note that Nigerian youths move to foreign lands daily because the government has failed them. With the high level of insecurity and lack of basic infrastructure, most people have lost faith in this country and are even ready to face hell instead of slowly dying at home. But the solution is not to leave Nigeria, rather it is to fix it.
We call on the Nigerian government to wake up and do the right thing by reducing insecurity in the land, fixing our healthcare, education, power sector, etc. and making Nigeria conducive again for the economy to thrive. Only then, will youths feel confident again about Nigeria and would want to stay instead of flying to unknown places and dying in the process. Instead of embarking on a trip to ignorance, they will know that they can count on their government to deliver at home what the golden fleece they are scurrying abroad to get.