‘68% of 9,000 dead migrants in 2017 were graduates’

President of the Pan African Institute for Global Affairs and Strategy, Dr Martins Uhomoibhi, has said 68 per cent of the 9,000 migrants that died in 2017 were graduates that could have been empowered as entrepreneurs.

He said this when he paid a courtesy call recently to the Orientation Camp of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in Kaduna state seeking to end illegal migration of Nigerians.

He said the partnership seeks to sensitize NYSC members on the dangers of human trafficking and illegal migration.

Uhomoibhi expressed concerns over the rate at which Nigerian youth risk their lives travelling abroad illegally in the name of seeking greener pastures rather than developing themselves.

He however stressed that the aim of the partnership was to launch the NYSC vanguard against the ugly trend as well as get volunteers among corps members that will take the message to all the local government areas of the state.

“Illegal migration signifies lack of self-esteem and is responsible for many untimely deaths in the desert and the Mediterranean Sea in desperate bids for jobs overseas.”

“Do not allow anyone deceive you by collecting your money and make you travel through the desert in search of greener pasture. When you travel illegally, you will be dehumanised and exploited,” he said.

Responding, the Kaduna State Co-ordinator of NYSC, Alhaji Dahunsi Muhammed described the partnership as timely while he appealed to the corps members to take the campaign of illegal migration to the nooks and crannies of the state.