A former governor of Ogun State and chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Senator Ibikunle Amosun has berated the western nations for encouraging young Nigerians to migrate by granting them visas. Amosun who spoke to BBC Yoruba on the state of the nation described it as am act of wickedness…
What was childhood like for you?
I was born in Totoro in Sokori, Abeokuta. My parents are Owu while my grandparents are Egba. I attended African Church Grammar School and had my tertiary education at the then Ogun State Polytechnic now called Moshood Abiola Polytechnic. Then I went to London for my master’s. That is my profile as Ibikunle Amosun.
At 62, would you say Nigeria is truly independent?
Although Nigeria has not got where we hope it should be, we should be thankful above all. Honestly, we mustn’t deceive ourselves that we have arrived, because obviously, all that’s happening indicates a state of dependence. Pointers such as insecurity, economic and socio-political vices in the country make it clear that we are still struggling as an independent nation. However, for the fact that we are still alive and hopeful that we will get there and we are still on that path, we have to celebrate our independence.
Who is to blame for the current situation of Nigeria?
We are to be blamed, not God. When Nigeria came into being, other nations were also created and by now majority of them are already developed. We are really enjoying the grace of God in this part of the world. When I was studying abroad, some nations were called emerging nations, emerging markets; countries like India, Malaysia, Nigeria and others. But now, you would see that these other countries have left us behind. Therefore, if not for the grace of God, we wouldn’t be where we are today. Hence, I would emphasize that we are at fault; but, we must be thankful for where we are.
What do you make of the growing Japa trend or phenomenon, with the mass emigration of talented young Nigerians abroad?
I have heard about it and the reports are scary. All our youths and young talents are travelling out of Nigeria, seeking greener pastures, and the prospective countries are deliberately giving them visas to leave the country, without putting the origin country into consideration.
What scares me most in all this is the proliferation of emigration. Foreigners will not fix our nation for us if all our citizens should leave the country. I am seeing the countries granting visas to our youths as wicked because they are not considering the origin nation, from which their prospective labour force are coming from. If you ask our people to leave the nation for greener pastures, they will tell you that they are not planning to return to Nigeria. If you look closely at the situation, you would see that all our lawyers, accountants, and most especially medical practitioners make up the largest chunk of the people leaving the country. We cannot blame them however; insecurity is one of the major problems pushing our people out of the country. You will agree with me that our people are not lazy and are always willing and ready to work diligently. Most of the migrants are forced to leave the country as a result of bad governance, an unstable economy, insecurity and other challenges. I am sure Nigeria will be great again, but the reports of migration recently have been disheartening for me.
