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ALIKA OGORCHUKWU: WHAT’S THE WORTH OF A NIGERIAN?
As the startling inefficiencies and inequalities in Nigeria continue to cause available space to shrink, many Nigerians continue to jump ship, seeking succor in countries near and far, even if the conditions in some of them are far worse than what obtains at home.
As Nigerians continue to leave the country in droves, horrific stories have continued to trickle home from some of the countries they go to, putting the lie to the fact that pastures are always greener elsewhere.
Over the years, the international community has come to make peace with the fact that since enough is not being done to preclude conflicts, terrorism, climate change, poverty and other factors that displace people and cause them to move, mass migration is the new reality. People will continue to move, and measures to make the movement of people as seamless and as humanitarian as it can be within the bounds of international law have to be taken.
The reception migrants get from their host countries many of whom are reluctant to take in migrants has also come under increasing scrutiny.
A key feature of these measures has been demanding that countries who have large pools of migrants at any point in time do all they can to secure the lives and dignity of those migrants for as long as they are in those countries.
The fact that this has not always been easy has been compounded by unscrupulous politicians in some of those countries, who take leave of serious issues on the campaign trail and instead whip up anti-immigrant sentiments among their citizens as a way to corral votes.
On Friday, July 29, 2022, Italians as well Nigerians were collectively horrified by the brutal beating to death of Alika Ogorchukwu in Civitanova Marche, a beach town on the Adriatic Sea in Italy.
According to the Italian Police, the deceased, a 39-year-old Nigerian was selling goods on the main street of the beach town on the Adriatic Sea, when his attacker grabbed his crutch and struck him down before beating him to death. The heinous crime was captured on camera as well as by some onlookers who stood by and did nothing.
Rather, many stood by, onlookers watched and filmed in a staggering display of iniquitous indifference that shows a section of the Italian society that has lost its humanity.
Police have arrested the suspect. But at this point, nothing will bring back to life the father of two who worked as a labourer until he resorted to selling goods after he was struck down by a car and lost the use of his legs.
For Nigeria, Mr. Alika`s death opens up a sea of sobering questions. It was not the first time a Nigerian was killed or brutally attacked in another country. It was not even the thousandth time. For how long will the citizens of the Giant of Africa remain soft targets of the many bloodthirsty wolves who prowl the streets of many foreign countries looking for whom to devour?
What is the worth Nigeria attaches to the lives of its citizens forced to flee the country and live in countries that are ordinarily backwater countries?
Perhaps, what happens to Nigerians outside Nigeria is only but a reflection of what happens here at home. A country which does not place premium on the lives of its citizens, and which has consequently seen those lives cheapened by insecurity. Nigeria has lost the moral fibre to demand that the rights of its citizens anywhere in the world be fully and forcefully respected.
Kene Oabiezu,
