Abdulhakeem Kilishi, Head of Economics Department at the University of Ilorin, has asked Federal Government to raise people’s standards of living and invest more in social amenities as a panacea to reduce unnecessary emigration of Nigerians to foreign lands.
Kilishi stated this on Thursday while speaking with BusinessDay in Ilorin, adding that the issue of Xenophobic attack on Nigerians in South Africa will definitely and naturally be addressed if Nigeria’s government takes cogent and quick steps in improving people’s standard of living.
Kilishi, however, called on the South African government to rise up to the occasion by increasing security apparatus to protect lives of immigrants and their property alike.
He said that most African countries generally are economically viable, hence the influx of Africans to the other black countries might not be necessary if main economic issues were effectively addressed.
While attributing the emigration of Nigerians to other African countries to low quality of life, he added: “if any country singled out itself to be relatively better than the rest, people start trooping into that country.
“The numbers of other Africans trooping into South Africa are so much, but the economic implications include; too much pressure on social amenities, dragging economy backward among others.
“They are going there because they have better social amenities and better environment to do businesses. So, every economy has to work on their business environment so that the number of people going there will reduce.
“It is a natural reaction, if foreigners take over the jobs available for the indigines, it is normal for them to react. What is happening in South Africa is not an official order, just some individuals who are lazy are those reacting.
“They are not productive, they cannot compete with other foreigners and that is why that reaction is coming. Those who can compete are not doing that, they are competing with foreigners and they have their place but those who cannot compete are the ones reacting abnormally.”
He observed that if Nigerians react, it might turn to economic war between the two countries and will affect their diplomatic relationship saying, Nigerian government have to improve on their diplomatic relationship with South Africa so that they can see how they can reduce or control the situation.
“The most important thing is for our government to improve on amenities and conducive environment for doing business so that numbers of Nigerians moving out of the country will be minimized.
“We need to develop our own country; it is very important, Nigeria government should invest more in our own nation.”
The economist said Nigeria has a lot of potentials, though the environment is harsh but people can still make it in the country.
He advised Nigerians not allow their environment to determine their destiny, rather, they need wisdom to identify those potentials and explore them, adding that they can make it in Nigeria without necessarily going out of the country.
SIKIRAT SHEHU, Ilorin
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