The quest for greener pastures

Almost on a daily basis, Nigerians strive to migrate to other countries of the world. What can be done to discourage the people for abandoning the country all in the name of greener pastures? The Nigerian government has been charged to shun nepotism, provide basic infrastructural facilities and work on the country’s economy to discourage citizens from migrating to other countries. Dr. Ayedun Isaiah Segun, a Senior Lecturer at the Protestant University of West Africa, Port Novo, Benin Republic, gave this advice while featuring on the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Ogun State radio station, FUNAAB Radio 89.5FM live interactive programme, Boiling Point. According to him, government should do the needful by putting in place sound polices, adequate security, and basic facilities to attract foreign investors into the country.

“Some of the reasons why people migrate include environmental factors, poverty, high cost of living, poor economy, quest for personal needs and higher education, insecurity, better health care, and family preferences, among others”, he said. Dr. Ayedun, who noted that he was not in support of people travelling out of the country, observed that until the government was ready to encourage Nigerians to stay at home; many people would continue to migrate from the country in search of greener pastures. “As the youths continue to pray to God to change the minds of our leaders for the better, do not involve in criminal activities in a bid to make ends meet, but work to protect the name of your family and Nigeria”. He, however, admonished people to stay in the country to build Nigeria together. Another point to look at in making Nigeria a country to be proud of is the uniformity of relevant laws in the country to successfully fight corruption by taming the monster. 

According to the Founder, Sixth Sense Initiative, Mr. Abiodun Lasile, there was the need for a new Nigeria where everybody is empowered, stressing that the country needed to grow a system that would take care of every citizen and make them feel important. “Fighting corruption is an individual thing, where everybody will have the zeal to fight it and will affect the nation positively. Everyone, in a particular line of corruption, must be prosecuted and all the systemic chain of corruption will be broken”, he said. The analyst added that corruption had become the way of life of some people, which makes it endemic and often deter them from doing the right thing. Mr. Lasile said, “For us to properly treat corruption, we should address the issue of immunity (clause), and for us to remove the immunity (clause), we need to go back to the law (constitution). We can never secure a judgment or process of making somebody culpable of corruption without criminalising the act of corruption. There is no grade of corruption because corruption is corruption”. 

Meanwhile, a Planning Officer at the Directorate of Academic Planning of FUNAAB, Mr. Olalekan Sotunde, said Nigeria had to get it right, lamenting that there was no solid structure in place for the nation to fight corruption. According to him, “We don’t put structure in place when we make policies in Nigeria. Nothing is wrong with Nigeria, but something is wrong with Nigerians”. 

Apart from the anti-corruption moves, the importance of restructuring Nigeria’s educational system to produce people with high integrity, has been stressed. The Head of Department of Communication and General Studies, College of Agricultural Management and Rural Development (COLAMRUD), FUNAAB, Prof. Onyekwere Nwaorgu, noted that if the country had a better educational system, it would certainly have an enhanced system of governance. “The quality of justice depends more on the quality of men, who administered the law than the content of the law they administer. “The judicial system, no matter how sound it is on paper, is bound to function poorly in practice if it is being operated by people of poor”, he said. A Senior Lecturer at the Protestant University of West Africa, Port Novo, Benin Republic, Dr. Ayedun Isaiah Segun, also joined the discussion to suggest that Nigerians should be selfless, patriotic, and loyal, adding that their conscience should be paramount. He stated that the problem facing the country was a lack of sincerity and ideology, noting that there is inequality, tribalism, and nepotism in the country. Similarly, Mr. Irebami Soyinka of the Department of Mass Communication, McPherson University in Ajebo, Ogun State, urged every region to come together as one. He also sought a strong judiciary in the quest at strengthening the nation’s democracy, saying the “Judicial system should be strengthened and let the people, who stole public funds, face the law.
There should be freedom of the judiciary and we must strengthen the rule of law”. What we need to do to discourage people leaving the country is a combination of putting in place basic amenities to make life comfortable, addressing the monster called corruption, and renergising the educational curriculum in such a way that people would be more patriotic to offer their service for national development, as we begin a promising New Year.