The tragedy of migration

The optimism which attended the just-concluded elections in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, has since been tempered by the spectre of hundreds of African migrants who have died in their desperate bid to reach Europe through the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean Sea. The grim estimation is that, this year alone, around 1,800 migrants have died in this quest. As if to indicate that there is no end to this nightmare, there are fears that over 30,000 migrants may die before the end of 2015.

In a sense, what we are witnessing could be regarded as a global phenomenon. Such is the desire of man that he usually votes with his feet in the search for greener pastures. For instance, there is also the constant migration from Latin America (principally Mexico) to the United States of America. Predictably, Washington has always made attempts to keep out Latino-migrants from its territories. Very much the same thing can be said for authorities in Europe where, in recent times, funding has been tripled in order to ensure that Fortress Europe is not beached.

And such is the non-episodic character of politics that the migrant phenomenon, as remote as it seems, has a linkage with the electoral fortunes or (misfortunes) in Britain. This is evident from the fact that the British Prime Minister David Cameron has vowed that any rescued migrant by the country’s warship would be taken to Italy and is not welcomed in Britain. Evidently, this tough reaction has been impelled by the forthcoming election, in which UKIP continues to pose a threat partly in view of its anti-immigration policies.

Perhaps the most curious dimension of this unfolding tragedy is that till date, the status-quo forces in Africa, individually and collectively, are yet to voice any form of concern.

In a sense, and on further reflection, much of the immediate foregoing is not really surprising. This is because the migratory impulse is owed to a combination of failed and failing states as well as the rampant poverty which is the lot of many Africans in the continent. It is clear, therefore, that the latest tragedy is due to the various shades of mal-governance that abound in the continent. Indeed, any young and discerning African who sees the searing scenes of desperate African migrants on television is bound to reflect and appreciate that “but for the Grace of God, there goes I”.

However, there is a sense in which the migratory impulse has always defined the relationship between Europe and Africa in earlier times. There was, indeed, what can be called the scramble for Africa. It was a situation which eventually led to the partition of the continent such that Africa was divided like some huge cake between and among the status-quo forces in Europe. It could even be said that the scramble for Africa was marked by a power-dynamic whose successive indices were slavery, colonialism and the contemporary scourge, neo-colonialism.

By contrast, in the current scramble from Africa, African youths are being made to stream out of Africa to the same Europe. This time around, the perceptive observer may well see the linkage between the forced slavery of earlier times and the voluntary slavery of contemporary times. How times change, or do not even change! Little wonder that one wise man captured the situation thus: the more things change, the more they remain the same. This is clearly an ironic situation whose empirical essence is embodied in Euro-African relations.

Even then, it is instructive to note and appreciate that for the young African who manages to survive the ordeals of the harrowing journey, there is really no nirvana in Europe. As an undocumented immigrant, he has to live in the shadows, and in the process, stay just one step ahead of the law. Consequently, rather than the envisaged life of ease, he has to make do with menial jobs which, in a sense, constitutes a clear throw-back to the slavery of earlier days.

The potential migrant is therefore advised to pause and reflect before embarking on that arduous journey. Sure, there are various forms of hurts at home, yet through a combination of creativity, imagination and industry, home, as dire as it is, can be made to be a better place.

However, our ultimate charge is to the various leaders across the African continent. The migration of our youths and the attendant tragedy are clearly reflective of nothing but the failure of leadership in the continent. Resources which should have been used for the general good are mindlessly gobbled up by a tiny political class, whose sybaritic dispositions have succeeded in impoverishing a large portion of the African populace. This must stop. These selfish and irresponsible leaders will do well to remember that the stinking opulence which characterises their lifestyles clearly negates the ideals of an icon like Nelson Mandela.

And, on this note, the political class across the continent may wish to appreciate that in the final analysis, their ultimate worth is not significantly different from the worth of that hapless African youth, who has been forced to embark on migration.

We, therefore, urge African leaders and the various organs of civil society in the continent to rise up to the occasion. It is time to put in place wholesome governance values which will end this recurrent nightmare and tragedy.