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Group flays FG over Nigerians’ plight in Libya

By Lawrence Njoku (Enugu) and Gbenga Akinfenwa (Lagos)
17 December 2017   |   4:17 am
A group, Lagos Elders Council, has accused the Federal Government of not doing enough to address the maltreatment of Nigerian migrants in Libya.

AFP PHOTO / MAHMUD TURKIA

A group, Lagos Elders Council, has accused the Federal Government of not doing enough to address the maltreatment of Nigerian migrants in Libya.

In a statement signed by its Secretary-General, Chief Sunbo Onitiri, the group called on government, well meaning Nigerians and world leaders to act, “because this is not the democracy we fought for against the military junta.”

While expressing sadness on the incident, he also called on the International Court of Justice to treat what is happening in Libya and Italy as war crimes and bring all perpetrators to book.

“I am highly in pain for these Nigerian youths and women who have been thrown into unbearable hardship as a result of the government’s inability to provide for their needs and welfare,” he said.

Onitiri accused past administrations, at both the federal and state levels, of irresponsibility and economic recklessness, which enabled politicians and top government functionaries and their cronies to loot the nation’s wealth, thus creating hardship for the people and joblessness for millions of youths especially graduates.

“I cry for Nigeria because Nigerian democracy has derailed and collapsed. This is not the democracy we fought for. Those in power now are not our choice. Many of our politicians have gatecrashed the political system and taken over the apparatus of power in order to loot the nation’s wealth without offering good leadership. They are desperate for political positions. They can kill, maim and enthrone violence in order to get into political office. The crops of politicians we have now are out to loot the treasury and not to serve the people.”

Meanwhile, an elder statesman and Chancellor, Eastern Mandate Union (EMU), Dr Arthur Agwuncha Nwankwo, yesterday, said failure of the country’s leadership to assist the youth was responsible for the high incidence of migration to other countries.

He said the issue of Nigerian youths rushing to Europe through the Sahara and the Mediterranean in search of greener pastures is an indication that something was fundamentally wrong with the country.

Nwankwo, in a statement made available to The Guardian, said the trend began at the nation’s independence, when the country achieved political freedom but failed to strive for economic emancipation.

He stated that even when opportunity called for deepening of growth with the discovery of oil in commercial quantities, the leadership did nothing to expand the economic base.

“Rather than emphasise competence and meritocracy, government initiated a nebulous policy of “quota system” that enthroned mediocrity. In the course of time, the economic fabrics of the country were destroyed. No plan was made for succeeding generations of Nigeria. So many premiums were placed on political power and access to it became a life and death matter.”

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