THE QUEST FOR GREENER PASTURES BY AFRICAN YOUTHS.
Ruth 1:1 Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehemjudah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons.
Ruth 1:5 And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them; and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband.
Quotes from the bible, kjv.
People migrating to other land has been of old, not a new phenomenon. Abram was asked by God himself to leave his family and kindred. A typical migration is found in the book of Rut, the old testament of the Bible. A sad end for a family with the aim of seeking for a greener pasture elsewhere. the man died, the two children later died, too, the woman[RUTH] was alone with the wives of her late two children. They left the land of their birth due to hardship with the hope of finding a better place ,but only the woman survived in that attempt left her with a permanent scare,with heaviness of heart and great despondency . It was an experience of 'minus' instead of addition and abundance they had hoped. For many who had attempted to cross the blazing Sahara into Europe can well relate to this bible story. For quite sometimes now, the headlines have been screaming, reading like a bad script, 'As many as 950 may have been on migrant boat that capsized'. Another, 'Mediterranean migrants feared dead after boat tragedy. 'UN estimates up to 850 migrants perished in capsized boat, says another report. o' Mediterranean sea! how you have become the graveyards of the restless youths of Africa'. It is like walking a thin ice. if you make it fine, but if it breaks you are sunk. Escaping the evils in Libya is bad enough, like escaping the clutches of dead from the messenger of dead. It is a boat for the crossing, not a ship that when it springs a hole in the hull it takes time for it to submerge. The pity of it all is that after each harrowing report, the world forgets about it until another scores perish at the deadly crossing yet, again. I want to believe if the Mediterranean sea could just bring out its human victims to surface it will impede its flow. There are different categories of people inside that miserable boats or rafters There those who are indeed, feeing war torn zones, unfortunately, these are the smallest number[how on earth can more numbers make it when the ravages of war has reduced them to skeletons and drain the last strength from their bodies ] There are those looking for a better life in Europe, looking for greener pastures; these one are mainly able-bodied youth, males and females. some carrying pregnancies along courtesy of the hospitality of the Libya miscreants. Others with babies as young as two or younger thanks also to their first port of call, Libya. Some of these migrants are Nigerians. there are 36 states in Nigeria and most of the Nigerian you finds there are from the Edo states and few from Delta state. What drives them to take this risky journey? . Why would sane folks attempt such a dangerous route via Libya and then by boats and rafters through sea? To understand the root cause one has to go bask to the mid 80s[1985]. the then head 0f state, general Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida, popularly called IBB by his fans and Maradona by his foes in a bid to boast the ailing economy introduce The structural adjustment program, SAP. Among the policy of SAP was the devaluation of the Naira, the nation's currency.
it was this devaluation that op[end the floodgate of mass exodus to European countries and U.S. A trend that has persisted till date. their destination has been mainly Europe. it is noteworthy, though, to say that during the colonial rule that lasted till October 1, 1960, Nigerian men had developed a desire for education , especially from the south and consequently gained admissions to prestigious universities from Harvard in the US to Cambridge in England. from Stanford in the US to Oxford in the U.K. After attaining distinctions as graduates, many returned back to Nigeria with a great desire to contribute their quota and build a great nation from whence the colonial masters left off. Those who remain have done exploits in various fields in America and the U.K. Till date, record has it that we have about 5,000 [five thousands medical practitioners in the U.K and about 10,000 [ten thousands ] in the united states of America. Let us not forget those in specialized fields like Nosa Omogui who for 6years was a development and research manager at Microsoft in the US. This Nigerian has a resume that reads like something out of the ordinary. A worthy Nigerian indeed, he is one of the few men I do really admire and duff my hat for. But he is camera shy and humble. Many more are out there doing their thing and getting frustrated with the Nigeria state. the later migrants till present are 80 percent economic migrants. it is purely economical reasons like the biblical Elimelech family. when the first set returned from Europe, mostly from Italy, they came and indeed, made a significant impact on their families, house were built, fairly used cars popularly called Belgium or tokunbo were imported into the country. no one really cares what they did over there , but that they have succeeded in putting smile on their parents faces, food on the table thus, driving hunger far away. The second badge went and the story was the same, houses and cars to show for their trip abroad. with SAP grinding hard the only ones that could build a house or buy fairly used cars were the one from Italy, Belgium and Netherlands. By the mid nineties it became a household ambition in the state to send a girl to the shores of Europe in order to alleviate poverty and lack in the land. today, there is hardly a house in any nook and cranny, street or lane, that can not boasts of having a female member in Europe with the exception of the rich and the educated ones with a good job.. Men were not left out, though, some dared to sell the family house and took off.. Then it was a common sight to see splashed on the fron of old buildings the sign: THIS HOUSE IS NOT FOR SALE'. This was often done to prevent a determined male from selling a family house secretly. Some who did replaced the house, but many could not leaving the family homeless. Meanwhile the graduates were mostly plodding the streets looking for nonexistent jobs, while their peers from Europe were up and about cruising their cars, blaring the music and their trade mark of spotting a diamond stud on their left lobe. what an error under the sun!. The desire to send a daughter abroad by the low-income earner or jobless man was growing by the day then.it became a well organized business: The madam, who is the sponsor was the financial from the beginning, though the would be girl and family members has to pay a registration fee before they are even considered. Then, there is the trolley these are the men and sometimes women who have the visas connections to Europe and handles all the customs and immigration requirement , airlines staff and other minor encounter. they sometimes coach the girls on what to say depending on the type of travel document they possess. Things stated taking a turn for the worse when some of these girls refuse paying the agreed amount to their madams on getting to Europe, despite the oats majority of them had taken. Madams, in their attempt to get back their investment resorted to threatening the girls parents way back in Nigeria with serious harm or even death. I want to say no one was kidnapped, compelled or cajoled to come to Europe. these girls only say that to the authority in Europe in order to secure protection and a stay permit based on humanitarian grounds. Meanwhile the girls spilled the beans to the authority and are granted a temporary stay at the expense of prosecuting their madam. By early 2000, Authorities in Spain, Italy, Belgium And Netherlands have enough information on how these girls were sponsored, work for madam and how much they were supposed to balance. they worked together and stated rounding up these madams that were living in Europe and declare others in Nigeria wanted .Sting operations were carried out at the same time at the same day at different European states. They were slammed with human trafficking with some of the girls testifying against them in court Many heavyweights got sentenced to various jails terms. those who were sentenced for longer period were deported after their terms for their stay permit having expired while in prison. This dealt the business a big blow and hardly would you find a madam in these trade now. Those who escaped by the whiskers had their God to thank. As hardship refuse to abate or some over ambition girls wanting to make it a new route without sponsor is now in vague. LIBYA TO SPAIN. Those who made it via this route never thought they would have to content with another challenge. Stay permit. many are living from hand to mouth, many do menial jobs and do it black that is is without documentation they earn less than what is the minimum wage.no health insurance. always on the look out for areas where they might be controlled. meanwhile with the little they earn they are able to send home and make a difference , too. The question now is would the mindset of these daring youths change with the latest information of happenings in Libya? How do we dissuade them in the face of a seemingly gloomy future in their father land and on the flipside, the display of affluence of those living in Europe when they hit town?
it was this devaluation that op[end the floodgate of mass exodus to European countries and U.S. A trend that has persisted till date. their destination has been mainly Europe. it is noteworthy, though, to say that during the colonial rule that lasted till October 1, 1960, Nigerian men had developed a desire for education , especially from the south and consequently gained admissions to prestigious universities from Harvard in the US to Cambridge in England. from Stanford in the US to Oxford in the U.K. After attaining distinctions as graduates, many returned back to Nigeria with a great desire to contribute their quota and build a great nation from whence the colonial masters left off. Those who remain have done exploits in various fields in America and the U.K. Till date, record has it that we have about 5,000 [five thousands medical practitioners in the U.K and about 10,000 [ten thousands ] in the united states of America. Let us not forget those in specialized fields like Nosa Omogui who for 6years was a development and research manager at Microsoft in the US. This Nigerian has a resume that reads like something out of the ordinary. A worthy Nigerian indeed, he is one of the few men I do really admire and duff my hat for. But he is camera shy and humble. Many more are out there doing their thing and getting frustrated with the Nigeria state. the later migrants till present are 80 percent economic migrants. it is purely economical reasons like the biblical Elimelech family. when the first set returned from Europe, mostly from Italy, they came and indeed, made a significant impact on their families, house were built, fairly used cars popularly called Belgium or tokunbo were imported into the country. no one really cares what they did over there , but that they have succeeded in putting smile on their parents faces, food on the table thus, driving hunger far away. The second badge went and the story was the same, houses and cars to show for their trip abroad. with SAP grinding hard the only ones that could build a house or buy fairly used cars were the one from Italy, Belgium and Netherlands. By the mid nineties it became a household ambition in the state to send a girl to the shores of Europe in order to alleviate poverty and lack in the land. today, there is hardly a house in any nook and cranny, street or lane, that can not boasts of having a female member in Europe with the exception of the rich and the educated ones with a good job.. Men were not left out, though, some dared to sell the family house and took off.. Then it was a common sight to see splashed on the fron of old buildings the sign: THIS HOUSE IS NOT FOR SALE'. This was often done to prevent a determined male from selling a family house secretly. Some who did replaced the house, but many could not leaving the family homeless. Meanwhile the graduates were mostly plodding the streets looking for nonexistent jobs, while their peers from Europe were up and about cruising their cars, blaring the music and their trade mark of spotting a diamond stud on their left lobe. what an error under the sun!. The desire to send a daughter abroad by the low-income earner or jobless man was growing by the day then.it became a well organized business: The madam, who is the sponsor was the financial from the beginning, though the would be girl and family members has to pay a registration fee before they are even considered. Then, there is the trolley these are the men and sometimes women who have the visas connections to Europe and handles all the customs and immigration requirement , airlines staff and other minor encounter. they sometimes coach the girls on what to say depending on the type of travel document they possess. Things stated taking a turn for the worse when some of these girls refuse paying the agreed amount to their madams on getting to Europe, despite the oats majority of them had taken. Madams, in their attempt to get back their investment resorted to threatening the girls parents way back in Nigeria with serious harm or even death. I want to say no one was kidnapped, compelled or cajoled to come to Europe. these girls only say that to the authority in Europe in order to secure protection and a stay permit based on humanitarian grounds. Meanwhile the girls spilled the beans to the authority and are granted a temporary stay at the expense of prosecuting their madam. By early 2000, Authorities in Spain, Italy, Belgium And Netherlands have enough information on how these girls were sponsored, work for madam and how much they were supposed to balance. they worked together and stated rounding up these madams that were living in Europe and declare others in Nigeria wanted .Sting operations were carried out at the same time at the same day at different European states. They were slammed with human trafficking with some of the girls testifying against them in court Many heavyweights got sentenced to various jails terms. those who were sentenced for longer period were deported after their terms for their stay permit having expired while in prison. This dealt the business a big blow and hardly would you find a madam in these trade now. Those who escaped by the whiskers had their God to thank. As hardship refuse to abate or some over ambition girls wanting to make it a new route without sponsor is now in vague. LIBYA TO SPAIN. Those who made it via this route never thought they would have to content with another challenge. Stay permit. many are living from hand to mouth, many do menial jobs and do it black that is is without documentation they earn less than what is the minimum wage.no health insurance. always on the look out for areas where they might be controlled. meanwhile with the little they earn they are able to send home and make a difference , too. The question now is would the mindset of these daring youths change with the latest information of happenings in Libya? How do we dissuade them in the face of a seemingly gloomy future in their father land and on the flipside, the display of affluence of those living in Europe when they hit town?
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