The recent disclosure made by the Federal Commissioner of the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI), Tijani Ahmed, to the effect that over 400,000 Nigerian refugees currently reside in Niger Republic, Chad and Cameroon is not only worrisome but demands an urgent intervention on the part of government and other stakeholders.
And coming at the same period that some 3,690 Nigerians are to be deported from the United States, in line with the policy of the new President, Donald Trump, it has become a clarion call on the President Bola Tinubuled administration to frontally confront the challenges that led to such mass exit from the country.
According to Tijani, the meeting of the Technical Committee working group held in Abuja is meant to ascertain what has been done, what it intends to do and evaluate areas to seek for government’s intervention and where other key stakeholders such as the international partners can play their significant role in the repatriation of the refugees. But it has to be done in line with the tripartite agreement signed by the governments of Chad, Nigeria and the United Nations Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). Worthy of note is that the repatriation process has started with 3,000 refugees brought back to Nigeria from Chad. That came into effect with the remarkable assistance from Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State.
There was the promise made by the NCFRMI that Cameroon will follow suit. Also reiterating the support of the UNHCR, the Deputy Representative in Nigeria, Bernadette Muteshu, stated that the agency was committed to ensuring that the agreement signed by both countries – Chad and Nigeria – was strictly adhered to. She, however, called on them to be there as strong shoulders to lean on when needed, especially in seeing the repatriation to its logical conclusion. But there are apprehensions on the likelihood of a repeat scenario of the large number of Nigerian citizens leaving the country, sooner than later.
That is the concern of experts on the economy, more so if the challenges of high inflation rate of goods and services persist. The need for preventive measures to be put firmly in place is because of what transpired in 2024.
All those found culpable in corrupt practices should be made to face the full wrath of the law to serve as deterrence to others
As reflected in the video clip that went viral some 40,000 Nigerians were caught rushing to the Republic of Niger, traceable to the sweeping hunger and starvation in the land. It was the perilous period of economic dire strait that led to the #EndBadGovernance protests that hit the streets of Kano, Sokoto down south to Oyo and Lagos.
Although some of those involved were youth caught stranded as they could not make their way to Europe en route through some African countries, the rising tide of the flaming questions cannot be dismissed with a wave of the hand. Such questions demanding urgent and sustainable answers to the current economic quagmire include finding and addressing the causative factors of the hardship in the land.
And that is because it was all preventable! How do we grapple with, and fashion the way out of hunger in the midst of the insecurity conundrum? What has been the missing link between the vast natural resources God has abundantly blessed the country with and the abysmally low Human Development Index (HDI)? One of the credible answers to the questions is the holistic restructuring and the enthronement of fiscal responsibility in the entity called Nigeria.
Much as President Tinubu has been hailed by some as mustering the political courage to “take some hard decisions”, with regards to fuel subsidy removal, and coming up with the tax reforms issue, he is yet to face the fact of giving a nod to the long call for restructuring the country. With it, the enormous powers at the Federal Government centre would be devolved to the federating geo-political zones. That would serve as a catalyst for the zones to have full access to and control of their natural resources, as well as ignite the spirit of positive competition amongst them.
It would of course, bring out the best in them as it took place amongst the then regions of the North, East and West. Another important decision to take is to ensure that the principles of accountability, transparency and probity are put into full practice with regards to how public funds are spent. All those found culpable in corrupt practices should be made to face the full wrath of the law to serve as deterrence to others. That is no matter how highly placed they might be.
We should do away with the obnoxious concept of the untouchables, primarily based on political and ethno-religious sentiments. To shape the socio-economic dynamics of the future generations, so as to make them believe in the huge economic potentials of Nigeria, and stay back to develop the country, instead of the self-decimating ‘japa syndrome’ our leaders must lead by example both in words and actions. All these will cumulatively lead to a drastic reduction in the number of Nigerian refugees in the neighbouring countries.
