President Buhari on Tuesday night
in Abidjan declared that all Nigerians stranded in Libya and other parts of the
world will be brought home and rehabilitated.
The President while speaking when
he addressed Nigerians residing in Cote D'Ivoire, vowed to reduce the number of
Nigerians heading for Europe illegally through the Sahara Desert and the
Mediterranean Sea by providing basic social amenities such as education,
healthcare, and food security at home.
In an interactive session with
members of the Nigerian Community in Cote D’ Ivoire, on the margins of the 5th
AU-EU Summit, President Buhari said all necessary steps will be taken to stem
the tide of illegal migration by Nigerians. He, however, noted that it is very
difficult to know the origin of the people who died, while attempting the
perilous journey across the Mediterranean, because of lack of documentation.
“When it was announced that 26
Nigerians died recently in the Mediterranean, before they proved that they were
all Nigerians they buried them. But the evidence I have from the Senior Special
Assistant on Diaspora and Foreign Affairs, (Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa) is that
only three of them were identified as Nigerians. But I’ll not be surprised if
the majority of them were Nigerians. For people to cross the Sahara desert and
Mediterranean through shanty boats… we will try and keep them at home. But
anybody who died in the desert and Mediterranean without documents; to prove
that he is a Nigerian, there is absolutely nothing we can do,’’ he said.
Reacting to a recent footage on
the sale of Africans in Libya, President Buhari said it was appalling that
“some Nigerians (in the footage) where being sold like goats for few dollars in
Libya.’’
‘‘After 43 years of Gadhafi, why
are they recruiting so many people from the Sahel including Nigerians? All they
learned was how to shoot and kill. They didn’t learn to be electricians,
plumbers or any other trade,’’ he said.
On domestic issues, President
Buhari told Nigerians in the Diaspora that there is ‘‘good news from home’’ in
the area of security, economy and anti-corruption.
“We are not doing too badly in
trying to secure the country, improve the economy and deal with corruption. We
are doing our best at all levels including security. It is absolute madness for
people to blow others up in markets, churches, and mosques. No religion
advocates violence. Justice is the basic thing all religions demand and you
can’t go wrong if you do it,’’ he said.
On food security, the President
said that his vision of repositioning Nigeria as a food-secure nation is on
course as the country is on the verge of attaining food security.
He attributed the development to
positive agricultural reform programmes and bumper harvest occasioned by good
weather.
According to the President,
interventions through the Anchors Borrows Programme of the CBN and the
Presidential Fertilizer Initiative, among others, had been very successful in
the agricultural reform initiative.
“People have gone back to the
farm. We got the CBN, agriculture minister and money was provided at very low
interest to farmers and the farmers responded and it was very positive. We are
lucky that we are in a position to feed ourselves. So we are going to have food
security in Nigeria earlier than anybody ever thought,’’ he noted.
The President advised Nigerians
in Cote D’ Ivoire to be good ambassadors in their host country, warning that
the Embassy will not hesitate to repatriate those who tarnish the image of the
country abroad.
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Thanks to Fayose and FFK's media protest. Now that you have remembered to speak on it, pls dear president, do walk the talk.
ReplyDeletePast occasions had some people claim to be Nigerians once they get caught in illegal activities in foreign countries whereas they were truly not Nigerians. This happens apparently because they don't want any disgraceful act to be associated with their countries. Ghanaians have done this many times over. Your journalists should work on this fact.
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