.Assures Government Working To Arrest Situation
The Director General, National Orientation Agency, (NOA), Dr. Garba Abari on Tuesday said government is worried about illegal migration and is working to make the country conducive enough to discourage desperate and illegal migration.
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Dr. Garba Abari, stated this at a press conference on the forthcoming commemoration of the Citizens and Patriots Day coming up on September 30, 2023.
He said though migration is Integral part of human society, illegal migration is most worrisome to federal government because it has caused monumental loss of lives of the nation’s young men and women.
“Government at the highest level is worried about japa, especially illegal migration. In all of this, we are doing two things because there are two types of japa. There legal migration which is within the rights of every citizen. And migration is anything new, every society and nation that you see, one way or the other, is a product of human movements. A product of migration. In fact, it is an integral part of societal development, national development community development, human development. People who are from one area to another, settle, establish, and evolve either as towns or city states or as country. Now, the second one is the one that we are most worried about which is illegal migration. And this illegal migration is what we have seen the effects of which have caused monumental loss of lives of our young men and women who erroneously have been misguided to believe that the grass out there are greener” he said.
Dr. Abari disclosed that in continuation of activities marking the 2023 National, Citizens and Patriots’ Day, the NOA will be holding two important formal activities – a Burn Fire Night and Light Procession on 30th September 2023, with the theme “Restaging the Nostalgias of 30th September, 1960” and a Recognition Award/Symposium on Standardization of National Iconography along with other activities on 5th October 2023.
The DG said the upcoming event is designed to emphasize the promotion of National symbols, National Core Values and establishing social institutions and frameworks for deliberate exposure of Nigerians to democratic norms and values.
Abari explained that the “Symbols day marks the date when Nigeria’s Coat-of-Arms and National Ordinance was signed into law in 1960 ahead of Nigeria’s Independence Day. The day is used to reemphasize the need for citizens to handle Nigeria’s national symbols with pride, loyalty and respect as instruments that represent the sovereignty and presence of Nigeria.
“These national symbols include the Nigerian Constitution, National Flag, National Anthem, National Prayer, National Pledge, Coat-of-Arms, Seal of the Nigerian President, Nigerian Passport, National Identity Card and the Naira. 30th September is also used to celebrate citizens who have made outstanding patriotic contributions to national development”.
Continuing he said: “the concept of citizenship has evolved beyond having a legal right to participate in the affairs of the state. Today, it connotes having a personal sense of belonging to a given community. Culturally, citizenship speaks to the consciousness of a common cultural heritage with specific fellows. Therefore, for us as Nigerian citizens to contribute meaningfully to the development of our nation, we must possess a personal sense of belonging in Nigeria while respecting and upholding our cultural heritage as a people, whether we are at home or abroad. Such disposition is the bedrock of patriotism and national heroism”.
According to him, Nigeria currently stands in dire need of an uprising of more patriots to meet the challenging demands of this moment of her history.
Adding “Never before has this need been more pressing than it is today. In the face of the economic difficulties of the time, the persistent “Japa” syndrome among our youth, the disturbing insecurity in parts of the country and the failure of our power supply systems, Nigeria needs Nigerians to rise up with initiatives that will bring the necessary solutions, even if it is at some personal cost. That is what patriotic citizenship is all about”.
