The recent disclosure that about 1,500Nigerians are languishing in various prisons having been convicted for a variety of offences in his country ought to disturb the Nigerian government.
Data published by Patriotic Citizens Initiative (PCI) – a civil society group – indicated that 170,000 Nigerians were currently serving terms for drugs/human trafficking and other related immigration offences, across the world. This reflects a sharp rise from the 16, 300 figure for 2012 out of which 6,500 were on death row.
It also claimed that as many as 8,000 were incarcerated in Chinese prisons, 3,719 were rotting away in Canadian prisons, while British jail houses were harbouring no fewer than 750 inmates. India was also home to 1,000 prisoners and Indonesia was home to 200 Nigerians out of which about 40 were on death row.
Lately, Malaysia and Singapore reportedly executed some Nigerians on death row for various offences bothering on drugs. The two countries have zero tolerance for drug trafficking. They show no leniency during trial through to conviction, while any pleas for clemency from any quarters are fiercely. In Asia in particular, an average of 40 Nigerians are annually executed mostly for drug-related offences.
Those incarcerated have repeatedly decried the shoddy investigations, resort to trumped-up charges, lack of fair hearing and, in most cases, denial of legal defence by the prosecutors, who, they allege, seldom aligned with the content and tenets of their legal system in the prosecution of cases. Incidents of extra-judicial killings, allegations of slave labour, sexual abuses and other inhuman treatments have become the lot of these persons mostly on account of being foreigners.
Though Nigerians love adventure and are among the most travelled individuals on earth, migration to mostly Europe, Asia and the United States of America has been more for economic than social reasons.
Prevailing economic situations and lately growing insurgency have fuelled the resolve to travel abroad for greener pastures. Rising unemployment and seemingly limited opportunities to engage in gainful ventures, uncertain future clearly etched in the mind by unstable political system, lingering insecurity, and scores of other discomforting socio-economic challenges have combined to make foreign trips very attractive.
Though few doubts that the grass viewed from afar will always be green and delectable as imagined, nonetheless, many often choose to relocate where they think opportunities abound for self-actualisation, social justice and political stability. They are, therefore, willing to endure whatever travails that await them.
Since the international labour law allows transfer of services and skills by individuals that may wish to, provided such individuals adhere to regulations guiding the rendering of such services in their places of choice, the federal government cannot impose absolute restriction on migration for greener pastures.
However, if the policies of government engender stable economic stability that also guarantee adequate infrastructure development, reasonable employment opportunities, ensure adequate security and good governance, as it was in the 1970s, only a few young and vibrant Nigerians would embark on hazardous voyage just to eke out a living.
It needs no reminder that the humiliation Nigerians are subjected to in foreign jails, rub off negatively on the already battered image of Nigeria and pains a bleak prospect for foreign investors to take advantage of the human and materials resources begging to be exploited back home. Of course, investors will always be suspicious of a people with bad reputation as exemplified by their involvement in drugs trafficking and allied crimes.
Therefore, it behooves the federal government to make concrete effort to evolve proactive policies and programmes capable of empowering and engaging Nigerian youths productively. That way, the alarming numbers of Nigerians that migrate in search of greener pastures but end up in jails in foreign lands will be drastically reduced.Rather than play politics with economic programmes meant to address serious ailments plaguing the country, equal access should be provided for those willing to take advantage of the various socio-economic empowerment programmes designed by the federal government to mitigate unemployment, create wealth and grow small scale industries. Only then will Nigeria be weaned from the ignominy of having one of the highest numbers of prisoners in foreign jail houses.
