`I must travel’ syndrome must stop

Representative Image: Passengers waiting for their bus

The Coordinator of the Centre for the Protection of Nigerians in the Diaspora has pleaded with Nigerian leaders to provide jobs to discourage young people from embarking on risky trips overseas.

The coordinator, Mr Alexander Orji, in Lagos on Tuesday said that Nigerian youths were increasingly embarking on tragic but avoidable trips overseas.

Orji spoke on the development, while commenting on the International Youth Day, commemorated on Aug. 12 every year.

“Our leaders must do everything possible to dissuade our youths from the `I must travel’ syndrome because most of the foreign countries they aspire to go to are dead ends.

According to him, African and Nigerian youths want to travel abroad nowadays, forgetting that wealth and riches are not picked on the streets of other countries.

“The typical African youth of today want to make it big after seeing what their fellow African brothers are `enjoying’ overseas.

“They do not care about the huge risks involved, forgetting that all that glitter is not gold.

The coordinator said that it was so worrisome that every African youth wanted to head overseas, in spite of all the deaths and destructions taking place in overseas countries.

“There have been a number of times when Nigerians in the diaspora have made videos and sent home, just to keep the people who are still in Nigeria from making the mistakes they had.

“Our youths won’t listen because they want to leave the country and do not care about what price they pay, which is why many of our youths are being killed or enslaved overseas.