Nigeria has resolved that all its citizens that
are stranded in Libya and other parts of the world will be
brought home and be
rehabilitated. President Muhammadu Buhari gave the indications on Tuesday night
in Abidjan where he is attending the EU-AU summit.
President Buhari and aides at a
meeting with Nigerians in Abidjan President Buhari who met with Nigerians in
the Diaspora in Abidjan 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.
The President’s interaction with the
Nigerian citizens in Cote d’Ivoire was reported on Wednesday by the Senior
Special Assistant (Media & Publicity), Mr. Garba Shehu. Nigerians resident
in Cote d’Ivoire present gift to President Buhari Nigerians resident in Cote
d’Ivoire present gift to President Buhari Buhari said that all necessary steps
will be taken to stem the tide of illegal migration by Nigerians. He, however,
noted that it was “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. “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 of 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, Buhari said that there was
‘‘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, have 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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