Ilegal Migration: I would resign if I were president - Onaiyekan

Ilegal Migration: I would resign if I were president - Onaiyekan

- Archbishop John Onaiyekan says if he were president of a nation where youths are running abroad, he would resign from office

- Onaiyekan notes that even though life as an immigrant is tough, the hurry to relocate abroad by Nigerian youths is understandable when their own nation is uninhabitable for them

- The Christian cleric says therefore, the government needs to make the country more inhabitable to youths in order to end illegal migration

The Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, Cardinal John Onaiyekan has lamented the continuous illegal migration of young Nigerians abroad despite several reported dangers that they face.

Channels Television reports that the outspoken Christian cleric, who spoke at a media briefing on Saturday, May 4 in Abuja, knocked the federal government for not doing enough to make Nigerian youths want to remain in the country.

He noted that the first way to tackle the ugly trend of illegal migration in Nigeria is to make the country comfortable enough for the young ones to want to stay.

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The first remedy is to make Nigeria the home of Nigerians, not that they shouldn’t travel, but do so when and how they want to, freely and with dignity.

“When they now make Nigeria in a way that home becomes uninhabitable, that the youths just want to get out, you hear young people saying that there is no way it won’t be better out there," he said.

He added: “It is a terrible thing to live in a nation where you are considered unwanted, and because of the difficulty of crossing these boundaries, illegal migration leads to trafficking.”

He noted that if a government is unable to provide good environment that will make youths stay at home, then such an administration should leave office.

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The cleric said he would resign if he was president of such a nation.

“If you live in a nation where your young people are telling you this, then what kind of nation is that?, If I was president of that nation, I will resign,” he said.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that not fewer than 157 victims of human trafficking have been rescued by the police in Benin Republic and Nigeria in an operation coordinated by international criminal police organisation known as Interpol.

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The Interpol disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday, April 24, saying the total number of 157 children, were among 220 victims of human trafficking rescued by the police.

The minors were said to be between the ages of 11 and 16. According to Interpol, all the victims originated from Benin, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria and Togo.

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Source: Legit.ng

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