Nigerian governor warns youths against illegal emigration

LAGOS, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Nigeria's northern Kaduna State governor Nasiru El-Rufa'i Wednesday cautioned the youths against migrating illegally out of the country, saying they should stay, work hard and build bright future for themselves.

"Illegal migration is an unusual type of brain drain with several devastating effects synonymous with modern day slavery," the governor told a gathering in his office.

He said the youth population in Nigeria nurture the wrong impression that Europe and the West are better, whereas, unknown to them, the condition of living there is hard, unsympathetic and devoid of community life that accommodates the interest of one another.

The governor advised the youths to liberate themselves from "erroneous sense of entitlement, work hard, acquire necessary knowledge, experience, get involved and seize political authority" as practiced worldwide.

Earlier, Martin Uhomoibhi, the President, Pan-African Institute for Global Affairs and Strategy (PAIGAS), said the group consists of former Nigerians envoys and other imminent Nigerians who are committing themselves to this cause.

"We have decided to use our wealth of experience and resources to sensitize corps members on the dangers associated with illegal migration," he added.

Last year, the Nigeria Immigration Service said more than 10,000 Nigerians have died between January and May 2017 while trying to illegally migrate through the Mediterranean Sea and the deserts.

About 4,900 Nigerians died in the Mediterranean Sea while the rest died while going through the deserts in their bid to cross to Europe. Enditem