From: Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
President Muhammadu Buhari has said that most reasons advanced by migrants wanting to go to Europe are untenable, noting that embassies in North Africa are now over-worked, trying to identify true Nigerians and bring them home.
This is even as he has counseled illegal migrants to stay back home, and find ways to improve their personal economies, rather than dare the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean Sea, which has so far claimed scores of lives in the process.
President Buhari said this when he received the Special Envoy of President Paul Kagame of Rwanda and the country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon. Louise Mushikiwabo, at the State House, in Abuja, on Tuesday.
In a statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, President Buhari told his guest that Nigeria had taken it upon herself to bring back thousands of her citizens now stranded in Libya.
“Illegal migration is now a major issue in Africa. Many dare the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean Sea to get into Europe, and many die in the process. Or they get into trouble, as we now see in Libya. I don’t envy our position, as many Blacks claim to be Nigerians, even when they are not.
“Our Embassies in North Africa are now overworked, trying to identify the true Nigerians. Most of the reasons they mention for migrating illegally are untenable. They should stay here, and see how they can improve their own economies, instead of risking their lives,” President Buhari said.
The President said President Kagame, as the incoming Chairman of African Union (AU), had the issues of South Sudan, separatist agitation in southern Cameroon, unrest in Togo, and many others on the continent, to contend with.
“Gaddafi’s long rule produced many people, whose only skill is how to shoot guns. Now, they are scattered around the continent, still with their weapons, and fomenting trouble,” President Buhari said, adding that Nigeria was taking steps to curtail the development.
Hon. Mushikiwabo said President Kagame looked forward to the counsel and support of the Nigerian President, as he assumes the AU chair from this month.
“He will also need counsel on security issues in the Sahel, ongoing reforms in AU, borrow your expertise in agriculture, and renew friendship and kinship between our two countries,” Hon. Mushikiwabo said.