Motion Sponsor, Rep. Philip Agbese argues that a growing number of youths seeking permanent residency in the United Kingdom, Canada, and other European countries portends grave danger to the country’s economy, intellectual community, and society.
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The House of Representatives on Thursday unanimously rejected a motion to designate the emigration of young Nigerians abroad as a national emergency.
Moved by Rep. Philip Agbese (APC, Benue), a Nigerian based in the Diaspora before his election to the Green Chamber, the lawmaker noted that statistics from the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) showed that a growing number of the country’s young population are massively relocating abroad.
According to him, a growing number of youths seeking permanent residency in the United Kingdom, Canada, and other European countries portends grave danger to the country’s economy, intellectual community, and society.
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The Benue lawmaker added that recent reports from Nigeria’s African Polling Institute indicate that 69 per cent of young people would opt to relocate abroad when presented with the opportunity, stressing that a 40 per cent increase has been recorded in the number of young people who left the country compared to what was recorded in 2019 according to a report by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA).
He further averred that the UN DESA stated that international emigration from Nigeria in 2020 totalled 1.7 million, which was a substantial increase from 990,000 in 2010.
The motion was, however, unanimously rejected when it was subjected to a voice vote by the Speaker, Tajuddeen Abbas.
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One comment
Aladeokomo Babatunde
June 16, 2023 at 2:09 am
The issue here is not about preventing Nigerians from travelling anywhere they want to go. If they are welcome by such embassies, they should be allowed to enjoy their freedom of legal movement. Instead of government to be scared of what this movement across borders portends for our national and economic development, they should expedite actions to provide enabling environment for business to thrive by investing quickly in human capital and infrastructural development that in the short and medium term can prevent continuous migration and on the long run attracts citizens abroad to see reasons to return home. With the few steps of this new administration in the last 3 weeks in areas of fuel subsidy removal, appointment of qualified persons, suspension of perceived corrupt officials, ascent to some people oriented bills and the meeting of the president with some key stake holders; it seems as if we are heading in the right direction