NAN-H-55
Migration
By Lizzy Okoji and Taiye Edeni
Abuja, Sept. 28, 2017 (NAN) Hon. Sani Zoro, the Chairman, House Committee on Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) has called on world leaders to urgently come together to address global migration issues to avoid looming dangers.
Zoro made the call on Thursday in Abuja during a roundtable organised by the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung in Nigeria, a German NGO.
He said that migration was a phenomenon as old as time and was expected in human existence but the current dangers arising from irregular migration posed a source of concern for lawmakers and world leaders.
Making reference to the recent election of Germany, Zoro said that Chancellor Angel Merkel suffered the risk of her party losing the elections because of her stands on migration in Germany.
Zoro said that the second agenda of world leaders at the UN after terror remained addressing migrants, refugees, displaced persons and other issues and persons of concern.
He said that Nigeria as a law and orderly nation would not tolerate any of its citizens or a Nigerian passport holder committing criminal offences in host countries.
The lawmaker said that Nigerian migrants should not always be looked at in a bad light as a lot of skilled Nigerians, who were migrants, were major contributors to the economy of their host countries.
“Nigeria is an advanced and sophisticated country and our Diaspora population has contributed to the development of so many countries.
“We are proud of our population and if Nigerian professionals in Diaspora return home, it is enough to jumpstart the economy,” Zoro said.
Zoro said that as lawmakers they were committed to listening to the people and working with both local and international NGOs to make necessary laws that would safeguard the rights of the people.
Prof. Bayo Okunade of the University of Ibadan said that the root causes of irregular migration should be addressed by the government to deter youths from seeking greener pastures in other countries.
He said that in the last 10 years, the issues had been on the front burner, especially with terror attacks on some countries bringing migration to a new dimension.
Okunande said that the Sept. 11 2001 attack on the U. S. and other countries in European further made them tighten their immigration laws for national security which had prompted irregular migrants to taking desperate routes to entering the countries.
He said that the issues of brain drain should be addressed so that Nigerian professionals should return and contribute to the development of the economy.
He also called for synergy among agencies of government in formulating and driving policies that would address migration issues.
Meanwhile, Mrs Hildegard Behrendt-Kigozi of Konrad Adenauer Stiftung said that the challenge of migration was critical at this time, especially with the new dimensions of irregular migration leading crises in the world.
She said that the hostility of migrants was also important and it needed to be discussed to see what could be done in Nigeria and other countries to address it.
Behrendt-Kigozi said that the recommendations from the discussion would help relevant authorities put in place laws that would help in solving the situation. (NAN)
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Edited Grace Yussuf