For The Soul Of Europe

As Nigerians, especially the youths, migrate in droves to make their journey to Europe by a questionable means, they also die in droves. (Albeit, there are many who make their journey to Europe through civil means). The illegal migrants die of dehydration, trying to enter Europe through the desert or sea. They sometimes had to sweep kilometres away from the Northern African countries to see that success comes their way. But in all, some of them regret even making the attempt to nurse that Europe ambition, let alone venturing into the senseless adventure. And these countries in the North Africa, like Egypt and Libya, are very cruel to these migrants of our aborigine. Sometimes, they kill, jail, and deport them back to Nigeria. The question and anger this act against humanity has left in the mind, is against the cosmos axiom, which affirms that we must be our brothers keeper.

While many people find it very hard a thing to be their brothers keeper, the question of why these youths have preferred to live onshore by any means necessary or unnecessary has come fore to the mind.

It is the bad government we operate here that is compelling Nigerians to rather die in exile and enjoy rather than suffer at home. Nigerians make contretemps sojourn!

Conspicuously, when these youths might have suffered incarceration in the country where they are caught in the North Africa or Europe and were deported, they still come to serve jail terms in Nigeria. Any reason?

It seems that many Nigerian youths abroad do not engage into genuine businesses. We once had the experience where a Tony Onuoha who was 27, was said to be into dealings with the sells of pirated CDs in Greece, in the Kalamaria area. He jumped out of a window of a storey building to avert arrest by two men on plainclothes suspected to be policemen. Was he not dead?

Unlike Onuoha, imagine where a 23yr old Osamyia Aikpitanhi died in Iberia flight to Lagos of a deported related case. Aikpitanhi was subjected to torments that can't even be metedout to a beast. He died in a sack bag the Spanish law enforment agents inhumanly packaged him. What bizarre!

Notwithstanding, we can even give credit to these North African countries and the European compared to what these deportees face in Nigeria.. Many of them are not convicted of crime, but they stand as awaiting trial for a period over 20yrs. What for?

While most parents and siblings and friends are in expectancy mood that their subjects are in Europe, many of them are languishing in the Nigerian prisons – carelessly abandoned. And this could be the reason many of our people prefer abroad than home, because Nigeria treats her citizens with scorpion and brimstone.

Odimegwu Onwumere, is the Founder of Poet Against Child Abuse (PACA), Rivers State. +2348032552855. [email protected]