President Muhammadu Buhari recently had an occasion to lament the exodus of our youth overseas to take menial jobs in Europe. The president condemned the desperation of the Nigerian youth who risk their lives by crossing the hot and desolate Sahara desert and the deadly Mediterranean Sea all in a bid to take up menial jobs in Europe. He said the action of the youth was hurting the pride of Nigeria. The president decried the illegal exodus to Europe at grave risk to lives and limbs even when there are great opportunities in Africa.
The president, who spoke at the Aso Rock Villa, when the outgoing Namibian Ambassador to Nigeria, His Excellency, Peingeondjabi Shipoh, paid him a farewell visit said :”We will do our best to make our country live-able again.”
There is no free meal anywhere in the globe, be it in Europe or the Americas.It is a good thing that the president said that his administration will do its best to “make the country live-able again
The fact that Nigeria is not live-able today is the fault of our governments over the years, both the past military and civilian administrations of yesteryears who had the opportunity of improving the country’s economy but instead made it worse.
It is a shame that up to 1982, the Naira was worth more than the U.S dollar in value and in purchasing power. Today, the same dollar is king over the Naira with N360 exchanging for just $1. How did we get to this shameful situation as a nation? It was just because our leaders did not pay adequate attention to improving the country’s economy.
The simple truth is that government should make Nigeria live-able again. If the government improves the economy and there are good jobs and improved standard of living, less people will risk their lives by crossing the desert and the Mediterranean Sea to go to Europe to take menial jobs. If Nigeria is better than it is now, less people will check out.
Second is that most of our youth are unaware of what obtains overseas. They see Europe, Canada and America as lands of opportunities where anybody with or without “O level” education can easily make it. But, when they get there, they are disappointed because they must work to get any money. There is no free meal anywhere in the globe, be it in Europe or the Americas.
It is a good thing that the president said that his administration will do its best to “make the country live-able again.” The statement by the president is also an admission that he knows that all is not well with the economic condition of the country which, in turn, has impacted on the economic health of the Naira. So, if things are not well with the country, do we expect all Nigerians to stay at home without jobs? In the absence of meaningful jobs, who will feed the jobless Nigerians?
One thing the president must know is that in the absence of meaningful jobs at home, Nigerians will continue to troop overseas in search of jobs and improved standard of living, risking their lives and limbs by crossing the Sahara desert and the Mediterranean Sea to get to Europe where they can live their dreams. It is a fact of life and no amount of sermon by the government can stop exodus by Nigerians overseas.
There are millions of unemployed educated Nigerians who want to work but cannot find jobs. Should they commit suicide or check out of the country legally and illegally?
The Nigerian Export Promotions Council claims that the country loses about $40 billion annually in unexploited gold alone, which is far higher than oil revenue in 2015 ($37billion), and far higher than the 2016 oil revenue ($26billion).
At the same time, the country’s long forgotten minerals and mining sector is now thought to be the new frontier of salvation, with its potential as the sector could generate up to N8 trillion naira annually.
Our population is said to be about 180 million and it is growing at about 3 percent annually. What this means is that our economy must not record anything less than 3percent GDP growth for it to be seen as appreciable. The IMF recently indicated that the Nigerian economy will grow by 1.9 per cent this year. What this means is that our economy is under performing and the government must do all it can to make it perform significantly above 3 per cent.
The country is blessed with vast resources waiting to be tapped. In addition, there are billions of opportunities for new jobs waiting to be exploited but no money by the youth to do so. What is the government doing about it? Has the government forgotten that we cannot all be in agriculture? In addition to improving the GDP growth of the economy, we must do something about the growth of our population. There is no way the country can continue to grow in population without hampering the growth of the economy and the ability of the government to provide the necessary healthcare, education and other infrastructure necessary for the increasing population of the country. If possible, the government should make a law to regulate the average number of each family.
The government is doing well in its policy to curb corruption in the country. But, the evils being done to the country by rapid increase in its population is worse than what corruption is doing to the country.
The president must focus on the ever increasing population of the country. Otherwise, by the time the population explodes out of control, no government effort will be able to handle it. The time to act is now.
