No fewer than 1,200 Nigerians have died while trying to cross the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean Sea, two of the most dangerous migration routes in the world) this year. Citing data from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), the acting deputy Comptroller General of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Kemi Nandap, made the disclosure last week. “We have a big problem in this country and that is the issue of ‘Japa syndrome’. We have so many of our youths who are dying in the Sahara Desert, dying in the Mediterranean Sea. They are dying for no cause,” said Nandap

As we keep reiterating on this page, Nigerian authorities must address the conditions that create the desperation to leave the country for unknown destinations. Today, we live in a country where many are not only poor but cannot find jobs. For years, factories have been folding up and selling their warehouses while several businesses have had to shut down due to lack of electricity. In the circumstance, vibrant young men and women are leaving the country to embark on journeys which for many of them tragically end either in the Sahara Desert or on the Mediterranean Sea. “We do not want to continue to lose youths to the dangerous Trans-Sahara route and the treacherous Mediterranean Sea in their attempt to seek greener pastures,” Nandap said while calling on all relevant stakeholders to play their role in changing the narrative. “We know that many people want to go abroad seeking greener pastures. It is not bad, but these journeys must be safe, must be orderly, and must be regular.”

Driven mostly by economic desperation, thousands of able-bodied young men and women are, almost daily, embarking on suicide missions in the bid to migrate towards the northern hemisphere in search of opportunities that are no longer readily available even in those societies. While only a small fraction eventually gets to their destinations where they face disappointments and frustrations, majority of them usually perish on the way. Indeed, the stories being told by Nigerians who are increasingly being deported after their failed efforts to cross to Europe or other parts of the world are harrowing.

While many of them have become destitute, some nurse terminal diseases like cancer without any support. For these unfortunate Nigerians whose quest for a better life ended in disappointments, the future seems bleak. Meanwhile, many who make it to Europe, or the Middle East are usually forced into prostitution (especially the women), used as mercenaries, deployed as household servants, factory workers, drug couriers and even as organ donors.

There is also a criminal dimension to the problem. Some unscrupulous Nigerians now recruit young girls from rural communities with the promise of securing for them good jobs abroad only to turn them to prostitutes. Chilling statistics suggest that human trafficking has become one of the biggest money-making businesses after drug trafficking. Today, our country is regarded not only as a transit route for this illegal trade but also a source as well as a destination with children and young adults, especially of the womenfolk, now becoming merchandise for what has become a cross-border crime.

One of the challenges is that of mind-set as there are many young men and women who believe they can only make it abroad and will do anything to travel outside the shores of the country. Yet, irregular migrants are merely compounding their miseries because what await them on the other shores are no longer opportunities but detention, most often under subhuman conditions. Therefore, apart from addressing the socio-economic issues of our country, government must also embark on a campaign to disabuse the minds of our teeming population of young people. The grass is not always greener on the other side.

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