The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Professor Nentawe Goshwe Yilwatda has decried the rate at which young Nigerians and several professionals are leaving the country to foreign lands in search of greener pastures.
Yilwatda, who spoke in Abuja on Monday at the unveiling of a book on Human Trafficking at the Yar’adua Centre blamed economic hardship and bad government policies as some of the root causes of illegal migration.
Prof Yilwatda said, “I feel strongly as somebody in government and my party is also in government that one big challenge I know is that the economy is behind most of the challenges of this country.
“Being a Minister of the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, migration was under my ministry.
I chaired also the African-European Migration and Development Team and I worked closely with them in most of the issues that has to do with trafficking.”
The National Chairman went down memory lane to recall how the nation’s economy degenerated so badly before the arrival of the present administration and he regretted that most of the factories and industries functioning perfectly about 40 years ago, including vehicle assembly plants had closed by year 2007.
“Most of the companies could not recoup what they invested in the country and this was part and parcel of the decay that we had in the country that led to so many backlash on people,” he stated.
Yilwatda recalled that Nigerians started moving out of the country for better opportunities elsewhere when the economy started going from bad to worse after the economic boom which saw people migrating to Nigeria to look for jobs.
“Some of my teachers were Indians. Some were Kenyans. Some were coming from different countries.
We lost it at a point, we lost all the threshold of our economy and then, people started taking advantage of this vulnerable group.
You could move to a community in a village and sometimes you feel this thing is just moving out of the country but it is not.
This cycle needs to be stopped and that’s why all of us are here to challenge what has lived with us for over 40 years now.
“We can make those changes. We can turn around the corner and as a political party, the APC, we like doing the unthinkable.
Making changes that look unreasonable to the eyes of people, but deep within, and seated in our hearts, we can bring about changes that can improve the life of our people.
That’s at the centre of our hearts and that’s why we’re working as citizens with the economy, and everybody knows the numbers are changing.
“The World Bank, the IMF, said we can’t grow up to 3% GDP per annum. We are doing 4.23% now.
It was predicted that by now, we can’t do more than 1 million barrels per day. We are doing between 1.7, 1.8 million barrels per day and I can keep giving the numbers but these numbers must reflect on the people.
They must reflect on the life of our people.
“I keep on saying the indices that matter in the life of people goes beyond the Federal Government.
Primary health is at the local government. Secondary health is at the state level. Primary education is at the local government. Secondary education is at the state level.
The same thing with water. Water supply is never enough because the Federal Government does not own any land. So, water distribution, generation and distribution are at the local government and state levels.
“That is why we need synergy as indicated in this book, a clear synergy that can boost the economy, that can build distribution of wealth, that can provide social services and ensure that vulnerable people are included in the economy, building an inclusive economy that all of us can be part and parcel of and that’s why I am here today.
“I look forward to being a mirror, for not just the APC, not just the government of APC at the state level, at national level, but the state government and the local government to be part and parcel of this change.
This change can create a clear reflection between the people of Nigeria and the destiny of the young and vulnerable girls, especially.
“I want to call on all of you that this book is not just the pages that we have, but this book should be in your hearts. For the CSO, I look forward to more active voices for these vulnerable people.
For the educationists, I want you to do more researches that will be part of the life of our people.
The people in government, I want to see policies in the National Assembly that will strengthen that framework, not just the legal framework, but let’s have an effective operational framework from you also and let’s see that synergy that bridges the CSO, the government, the politicians, people like us, who are the corridor of power.
Let all our voices be heard. With this, I want to thank you for coming.”
Yilwatda expressed the hope that the economy will continue to improve noting that even today, more money are being shared at the Federation Account than before due to increased revenue.
“The last sharing they did was N2.2 trillion Naira. No governor in Nigeria today collects less than three times, up to four times what they used to collect before. None.So, they can do more for their people. No governor collects lower than three times.
They are focusing now on bigger projects. And to me, this is a turnaround that we need in governors.It’s my dream that I have a party that is driving Nigeria in the right direction.
To give Nigeria not just optics alone, but a reality that Nigeria is better and open,” the national chairman declared before purchasing some copies of the book for N7 million Naira.
The author of the book, Amb. Alex Ugochukwu Oriaku, in his speech said he was inspired to write the piece because “human trafficking has become something that is continuous, inescapable, and perhaps even hopeles.
It is a vicious, self-perpetuating cycle of exploitation, vulnerability, and silence.
“It’s a circle that preys on the desperate, the vulnerable, the marginalized, and the unseen.
And for far too long, we have allowed this circle to remain unbroken, operating in the shadows of our society, on the edges of our awareness.
“We hear the statistics and we shudder (According to UNODC, an estimated 750,000 – 1,000,000 Nigerians are trafficked every year). Millions of victims. Billions of dollars(US$150 Billion made annually by traffickers).
“We see a headlines, feel a pang of sadness, and then we turn the pages. We change the channel. We scroll past because it’s easier to think of it as a problem “out there.”
A problem for law enforcement, for governments, or their agencies such as NAPTIP; or even for someone else to solve.”
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