Of Foreign Execution Of Nigerians

Recent report of the execution of 38 year-old Chijioke Obira in Singapore and the incarceration of over two thousand Nigerians in Chinese prisons alone, over cases of illicit drug trafficking constitute reprehensible national embarrassment.

Over the years, similar reports of Nigerians either getting killed in the streets, tortured, incapacitated or placed on death row in prisons around the world have continued to diminish the stature and image of Nigeria in the comity of nations.

Worrisome, is the seeming unabating rise in the involvement of some Nigerians in these vices in spite of the death penalty some nations have continued pronounce on offenders according to their laws and their attendant damage on the nation and her nationals, who engage in the decent activities abroad.

Illicit drug trafficking and other vices have seen many Nigerians under heavy diplomatic restrictions. Even, those who ordinarily should be accorded privileges for their significant contributions to the economy of such nations are now profiled on daily basis.

There is no nation in the world that does not experience crimes and criminality, but allowing such vices to assume a national identity as it is becoming the case of Nigeria is disturbing and must be discouraged.

The Tide thinks the time has come for concerted efforts to be made by both the government and the people to put an end to this national shame. As a people, we should collectively redefine our national values.

It is saddening that Nigerian airports have acquired notoriety for export of hard drugs because of poor security architecture, while the borders remain porous even the supposed watch immigration services. The Federal Government should rise up to its responsibility and revisit the nation’s security policies, particularly as it affects the various airports and borders.

As a first step to checking the eventual suicide mission of these criminally-minded Nigerians, it has become imperative that the security architecture at Nigerian air and sea ports be overhauled to frustrate drugs trafficking from our ports.

The airports, security, immigration services, Airlines, Nigerian Police, the Directorate of State Security and the Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) must up their game in effective crime detection and control to curb these vices.

We also call on governments at all levels to make the nation’s social welfare scheme more dynamic and responsive to the challenges of the times. This is because of the social welfare benefits need to be fashioned in line with current realities, with zero incentive to criminals and rime.

Furthermore, the need to rejig the entrepreneurship programme introduced by the Goodluck Jonathan’s administration into the Secondary education curriculum should be considered and if possible, even extended to the primary education level to equip the child with productive skills.

Religious bodies and families on their part should play their roles of inculcating our young gullible ones the necessary sound moral values of honesty, discipline and dignity to make drug trafficking and criminality unattractive to them from childhood.

We, therefore, call on the nation’s embassies not to rest on their oars in ensuring the proper documentation and protection of the rights of Nigerians abroad. We think the time is now for Nigerians to rise up and say no to illicit drug trafficking and desist from crimes that dent Nigeria’s image aboard. As citizens we, all must work hard to protect our collective image herein and abroad.