President
of Italy’s Chamber of Deputies, Hon. Laura Boldrini, told Speaker of the
House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, yesterday, that 37, 000
Nigerians migrated to that country in 2016.
Boldrini disclosed this during a visit to Dogara’s office, yesterday.
This was just as Dogara identified loss
of hope for economic opportunities among young Nigerians as a major
reason for taking risky journeys to Europe.
But, Dogara stressed that for efforts
aimed at checking terrorism and illegal migration in Nigeria and the
world at large to yield desired results, “there must be education and
economic empowerment of citizens of developing countries.”
Calling for partnership between the two
countries to stop the tide of illegal immigration and terrorism in
Nigeria, the speaker emphasised that government must empower people to
get out of poverty and, “only then will individuals resist the lure to
engage in crime or risk travelling to Europe through the Mediterranean
Sea.
“One of the problems giving rise to all these challenges is lack of economic opportunities.
“The problem is that someone will really
have to run out of hope for him to undertake these type of tortuous
journeys, to transverse the Sahara Desert and even cross the
Mediterranean Sea, to get to Europe. It means that there is generally
loss of hope.
“The truth is that, for us to deal with
terrorism, illegal migration, trafficking and cross-border crimes, we
have to address the issue of bringing prosperity to sister countries so
that citizens are catered for and jobs are provided.
“It is by investing in this country that
we can provide the opportunity which can provide employment for the
people who always want to risk all the dangers associated with
migration. There will no motivation to engage in crime.”
Earlier, Boldrini commended President
Muhammadu Buhari for the rescue of 82 girls who were kidnapped from a
secondary school in Chibok, Borno State, on April 14, 2014. The girls
were rescued at the weekend.
She also expressed willingness of Italy’s
parliament to collaborate with its Nigerian counterpart, to
rehabilitate Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the North-East, as
well as tackle the menace of trafficking in persons, especially young
girls and women to Italy.
Boldrini reiterated that 37, 000
Nigerians arrived Italy in 2016, and added that she supports a “unified
effort for both countries to check terrorism.
“Italy stands by Nigeria’s side to combat
terrorism. We do appreciate your effort and believe that since
terrorism is a threat to the entire world, we need to join forces in
this regard.”