The myth of life abroad

#FeatureByIOM - This is a dream they share with the younger generation, who are just eager to explore the other side of the world where life is not as chaotic or underdeveloped as it is here.

However, many still imagine that life in these foreign countries is just like living in paradise. You can actually see it in the way many families have prioritized life abroad for themselves and their kids; community leaders honour indigenes who return home annually for festive or cultural events in the community, and musicians sing their praise and make them feel like demigods. It is also clear in the way they spend extravagantly when they come back home.

All of these contribute to the ongoing rush of irregular migration in society today. Nobody is really explaining in detail that crimes also happen in the quest to fulfil this dream—people’s rights are abused, the vulnerable are exploited, organs are harvested, and people are forced into modern slavery and prostitution against their wills.

Most parents, religious leaders, and community leaders are not aware of this irregular migration or human trafficking; many are just greedy and selfish, pushing the youths to take this journey without asking vital questions about the country's language, cultural ethics, or the jobs available for these young people in those countries.

Most youths are just so happy when the sweet-mouthed human traffickers paint an imaginary paradise life abroad.

They become too ignorant to ask vital questions. All in their heads at that moment is an escape route from poverty and a way to become wealthy in a short period of time. The future leaders have now become a business transaction in the hands of human traffickers. 

For all these crimes against humanity in the hands of human traffickers to stop, the government must support the international and local agencies to create awareness in rural and urban communities and religious centres and to educate everybody about the dangers of irregular migration and human trafficking.

For anything to change, the mindset and perception of people should be changed about the imaginary paradise abroad. And to reduce the belief in a paradise abroad, the economic infrastructure in Nigeria should be rebuilt and reinforced so that people are presented with more legitimate opportunities to make a decent living for themselves right here at home.

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