Migration Is A Sign Of ‘Failure Of Leadership’ - Cardinal John Onaiyekan

John Onaiyekan

Catholic Cardinal John Onaiyekan said last weekend that Nigeria's mass emigration is a sure sign that political leadership has failed.

“Authorities should make Nigeria home. Same should be applicable to other African countries,” said Onaiyekan. “Nigerians and other Africans should travel out of their country freely with dignity and respect, and not otherwise.”

“These days, you hear some young Nigerians insisting that the pastures are greener elsewhere even when it is obviously not,” Onaiyekan said. “If you live in a nation where your young people are telling you it is better living elsewhere, then it is a sign of failure of leadership of such a nation.”

During a press briefing in Abuja, Onaiyekan made these statements in preparation for last week's two-day Catholic conference entitled "Action against irregular Nigerian migration."

The cardinal also said he was ashamed to see trafficked Nigerian woman walking the streets as prostitutes in Rome and other Italian cities, part of the fallout from mass migration.

“To tell you bluntly I’m ashamed, I’m ashamed,” he told the BBC. “I’m moving through the streets of Rome, Milan, Naples and I see my daughters on the street on sale.”

“I’m ashamed and I stop and even greet some of them — you can’t even engage them in conversation because they were brought out of the village illiterates. All they learn and all they know on the streets of Italy is what they need for this business — I’m ashamed.”

Some 80% of Nigerian women who have arrived on Italian shores wind up in prostitution, usually by force, according to reports, and currently one out of every two prostitutes in Italy is Nigerian. Many young women in Nigeria are encouraged to travel to Italy with promises of honest work just to find that they are expected to sell themselves on the streets.

In his words to journalists, Onaiyekan said that Nigeria in the present day is a far cry from where it was.

“I recall vividly as a young child in school some decades ago, I loved Nigeria and professed it openly because I was well taken care of by the government and I had a promising future. But the reverse is the case now.”

The government of Nigerian provide job opportunities for its youths, he said.

“The government should develop a policy that will attract investors to Nigeria and generate employment. Those who want to be self-employed should have grants from the government to own their businesses,” he added.





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