This Country is All We Have

By Zayd Ibn Isah

Nigeria recently welcomed 103 of her deported citizens back from Turkey and into her warm embrace, much like a mother welcoming her prodigal children with care and affection.

According to the Federal Commissioner of the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI), the Commission expected 110 deportees but received 103, all of them being males. “Some of them have been in the deportation camp for several months, and now that they are here, we are hoping to follow up on all the allegations gathered in their profiling,” said Ambassador Catherine Udida, representing the Federal Commissioner.

Expectedly, the deportees are not too happy to be back home. Watching the posted video on social media, the faces I saw at the airport were masks of melancholy, like clouds pregnant with unshed rain. It is not that difficult to relate emotionally with the deportees. After all, they were forced to return home after having left in search of greener pastures. And we all know that returning in such an unsavoury manner can negatively affect one’s outlook on life.

What is even sadder is the fact that some of these deportees will attempt migrating again in the near future to accomplish their initial missions. In fact, it is possible that some of them considered plans to return even while onboard the plane bringing them back to Nigeria. Each new plan would be better than the previous one, with careful calculations to elude familiar obstacles, prepare for contingencies and learn from old mistakes. It is hard to judge any of the deportees for having this relentless mindset: Nigerians famously possess dogged determination.

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In fact, not even the potential horrors of drowning while trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea, or dying of thirst while trudging through the Sahara Desert, are enough to dissuade many Nigerians from believing that “the abroad” holds innumerable possibilities of hope for them and their families. As such, they completely disregard thoughts of remaining in Nigeria, because for them, their country offers nothing positive at all. Consequently, japa narratives continue to dominate social media discourse, so much so that many youths begin to feel the undue pressure to leave the shores of Nigeria.

According to the Nigerian Immigration Service report of 2023, over 3.6 million Nigerians migrated in two years to other countries in search of better opportunities. This report was published in a 2023 article by ThisDay Newspaper. This does not include those who left the country through the Mediterranean Sea and other illegal routes.

Additionally, as more Nigerians migrate abroad, either legally or illegally, the tendency for host countries to deport them increases. According to a Saturday PUNCH report of 2023, no fewer than 170 Nigerians have been deported from Germany, Sweden, Lithuania, and other countries in the first nine months of 2023. In 2021, a Daily Trust investigative report revealed that a total of 13,235 Nigerians had been deported from at least 10 countries in four years. It isn’t too far-fetched to imagine that in the three years since that report was published, the number has increased significantly. In all of this, we can begin to identify a worrisome trend, especially as it often uncovers further challenges faced by Nigerians who undertake risky journeys abroad to seek better prospects.

The challenges that our compatriots face abroad are numerous, and should be expected. Settling in a foreign land is no childʼs play, especially as a black African. Apart from blatant racism, discrimination and subtle profiling, immigrants (legal or not) also face the realities of exclusion and outright hostility, as well as the possibility of unemployment, homelessness and poverty in a foreign country. Thousands of Nigerians are stranded in terrible states all over the globe, with most of them unable to accept defeat or deportation, and even more afraid of returning home with nothing much to show for the resources and energies expended in search of a better life.

Sadly, not many of them are able to come to terms with the fact that this country, even with all of its failings, is all we have. But alas, when push eventually comes to shove, our brothers and sisters virtually have nowhere else to return for refuge than Nigeria. There’s a Punjabi phrase that says: “Jo sukh chhajjo de chabaare oh na bulkh te bukhaare.” It means wherever you go, your true comfort lies in the place where you find all your comforts, your home.

Results and findings of a poll published by NOIPolls, a research institute based in Abuja, in August, 2023, revealed that 63 percent of Nigerian youths are willing to migrate abroad. Reasons for wanting to migrate ranged from searching for greener pastures and quality education, to security and career goals. At this point, it is important to point out that poll results such as this one are often reflections of societal undercurrents such as the prevailing japa discourse that has overtaken social media platforms in Nigeria. The same poll revealed that only 32 percent of Nigerian youths had no desire to migrate, and if anything, it is important that we work together as a nation to increase that percentage. We cannot afford to keep losing our brightest minds and vital energies to Europe and America. As it has been humorously asked on social media, “If everyone leaves the country, who will now be left behind to deal with the mess everyone is running away from?”

While I don’t fault any Nigerian citizen for seeking greener pastures abroad, as citizens of the countries we migrate to also migrate for better opportunities, we must refrain from actions that could destabilize our nation, actions that could further tarnish its reputation. Together, we can rebuild this country and make it a better place for every citizen, young or old. Many Nigerians are too poor to afford the costs of migration, and even for those who are wealthy enough, such japa expenses would be better off being channeled to better our state as a collective society. The only problem is that no one believes that their tiny contributions can be enough to positively make any difference.

One good thing about the aforementioned poll is the fact that it enabled the surveyed youths to suggest what could be done to stem the rate at which their counterparts migrate overseas. These youths asked for the creation of job opportunities, stable security, provision of basic amenities, reduction of inflation and better living conditions for the underprivileged in society. Frankly, I have little to add to these suggestions apart from asking the Nigerian government to reestablish links with the youths, and to begin taking proactive steps to assure them that staying back to be a part of Nigeria’s reclamation of her glory would not cause them regrets.

No single country has ever gotten better solely because a majority of its citizens migrated. The national development and progress we all desire cannot be transferred to us from the Diaspora. Nigeria can only rise from within, and by God, it will. These are trying times, definitely, but phases like the one we are currently in often serve as pivotal moments in the sense that they can propel us to restrategize and grow. Now, more than ever, Nigeria needs her children to join hands and heads in helping her get back up on her feet. We’re down, not defeated. And to those who have lost hope here and only see light elsewhere, it’s important to know that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side of the fence, but would definitely be green where it is watered and tended to.

Nigeria is all we have as a people, but it is all we need to become who we are really meant to be, as a nation and people.

Zayd Ibn Isah can be reached at [email protected]