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The high rate of drifts of Nigerian citizens to other countries poses a lot of questions for the Nigerian government and the youths. The Yoruba will always ask, “Is it possible for the children of a meat-seller to feed on bones? Or is it rational for children of a cloth-dealer to go about naked or on rag?” Well, these sound odd, but it is the closest description of our situation in a nation like Nigeria. So blessed with many natural and human resources, yet wallowing in poverty.
There is usually a huge task when we are to choose between attractive alternatives. But if the possibilities were not equally attractive, the choice of one over the other is relatively simple. In a concrete sense, leaving Nigeria to The United States Of America(U.S.A) or any of the developed countries seems a worthy option. After all, why remain when staying behind leaves one clouded with only a bleak future. Moving out therefore appears as a preferential option damning the consequences of this choice.
Thus, the circumstances in our country dictate that we make a choice: Either to stay and drift through life with despair or to wonder through the desert to another country for greener pastures.
Emigration, going from the definition of the Oxford dictionary, means a system whereby people move from their country to another country to settle not as tourist or visitors but as permanent residents of that particular country. It is also the movement of people from a country at a particular point in a time through legal or illegal means. The receiving country sees such people as immigrants while they are emigrants in the country they left.
In fact, settlement of people in foreign countries grows in size and complexity with the passage of time. The rate at which Africans (especially Nigerians) drift to the advanced countries contributes immensely to the increase of the population of their countries of settlement. Consequently, this affects the growth and development of their homeland. In recent years, with the aid of the numerous visa lotteries that are won by many less developed countries, many developed countries have witnessed a rapid population increase from great numbers of people who move there for one reason or another. These advanced countries seem to be cradles of great excitement with many attractions to make life worth living. Many move to these countries from afar without any idea of how they are going to make a living; and many ended up incurring troubles and obstacles for themselves and for their countries. One cannot really deny the fact that employment opportunities are available in the advanced countries than in the Third world countries. Nevertheless, they have to pay you taxes and other revenues as applicable. Many work strenuously to make ends meet and get involved in lots of dehumanizing jobs, just to meet with the standard of living in these advanced countries. Emigration has effects on both the home countries and the foreign countries as well. It has been observed that a country with a large population will also have a bigger labour force to boost its economy. Those gainfully employed are potential contributors to the economic development of the country. Also, a large population is synonymous with the expansion of local market. That is, it results in an increase in demand for goods and services. This thereby leads to a need for a high rate of production thus bringing about an improved economy.
In the same vain, as many people move out to foreign countries, so will the number of skilled and talented citizens continue to shrink or reduce in the country. They become agents of development in the country of domicile. For instance, many Nigerian citizens are professors, Doctors, Engineers and Technicians in Europe and America.
On the contrary, however, while the foreign countries are developing their home countries, they continue to retard in growth and development and also suffer economically and otherwise. For instance, unemployment will be on the increase and those who are employed will continue to struggle to make ends meet.
Life, then for many of our citizens here in Nigeria are like a commuter's dulled journey through the grey monotony of the shambled sides of ours; a city, a routine life, too difficult for us to bear. On the other hand, some would like to stamp out surprise in the name of a better world. This is because our government can no longer provide us with the necessary facilities for a worth-while life.
It is amazing to note that Nigeria is not conducive today due to the effects of bad leadership. In a nation of over 150 million people, people who answer leaders hold us to ransom, treats the nations as their personal estate, make mockery of the nations constitution, controls the nation's coffers as if were their account. Nigeria has a political economy culture that can make both young and old look at the future miserably. You do not need to encourage the citizens to drift before they move out of the country. No wonder most of our youths go in search of visa lotteries at all costs; even through the internet. Many of them spend their nights in the different Cyber cafes christening themselves with fake names, titles and qualifications in order to leave the country for uncertain lands to become second class citizens.
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Henry Ekwuruke
Henry Ekwuruke is Executive Director of the Development Generation Africa International.
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