The National Association of Seadogs has conducted a Gallup poll, which revealed that inability of the Federal Government to tackle unemployment was the reason why Nigerian youths put their lives at risk through the Sahara desert to Libya, in a bid to reach mainland Europe via the Mediterranean.
On its Twitter handle, @NASPC1952, as part of its ongoing campaign to draw the attention of the world to slavery in Libya, president of the organisation worldwide, Arthur Boje, Esq., stated that “part of the strategy is also to keep and retain the conversation on slavery in Libya as a major burner in the public space.”
In his response to a question on the Libyan slave trade and what should be done to discourage Nigerians from embarking on such dangerous journeys, he replied: “The sample size participants of 222 Nigerians, who were given four multiple choice options to choose from, which include: tackle unemployment, instant deportation, deportees to pay for their flight tickets back to Nigeria and public enlightenment, all came up with different options they think could checkmate the trend.
“At the end of the exercise, which lasted for 48 hours, 64 per cent of those sampled chose tackling of unemployment as the only panacea for stopping young Nigerians from embarking on these suicidal missions to Europe.
“Twenty-five per cent listed public enlightenment as the solution, while 6 per cent and 5 per cent pointed at the radical step of instant deportation and deportees shouldering the cost of their deportation, respectively, as answers to discourage these undocumented migrations.
“However, in rejecting the issue of unemployment as the reason why youths embark on these perilous adventures, one of the participants in the polls, Akanariko Adiri, in his tweet, argued that ‘the spate of emigration is not fuelled by unemployment, especially as 75 per cent of victims pay as high as N500,000 for the journey to Europe, through Libya,’ but insisted that the blame should be laid on the doorsteps of the greed and inordinate ambition of these young people.
“On his part, Jones Inyang, while accepting unemployment as the immediate cause of these misadventures, also urged the federal government to reform the Nigeria Immigration Service.”
Auctioning of young African migrants in Libya, since the story aired on Cable News Network (CNN), has drawn worldwide condemnation, with a call on the Libyan government to bring the perpetrators to justice.
The National Association of Seadogs is putting final touches to a proposed picketing of the Libyan embassy in Lagos, Abuja and other parts of the world where they maintain embassies, in Europe, the United States of America, Canada and Australia, where the organisation also has visible presence.