Shettima: We must fix Nigeria, stop Europe-bound migrants through desert

Kashim Shettima, former governor of Borno state has lamented the migration of Nigerians to European countries for greener pastures through Libya.

Recall that atleast 774 stranded Nigerians have been repatriated from Libya between August ,2021 and June 1, 2022.

But Shettima believed that the country must be fixed to put a stop to migration of citizens crossing through the desert from Nigeria to Libya with the hope of getting to Europe.

This was made known by Shettima at the investiture ceremony of the Managing Editor, Northern Operations of The Nation newspapers, Yusuf Ali, as the 11th president of the Rotary club of Abuja, Maitama.

Shettima, however, called for the unity of Nigerians to overcome the challenges bedeviling the country.

He said, “We have to make this country work. Nigerians would not need to go through Libya to get to Europe for survival. I believe if we are united Nigeria will survive and that is why I am proud of the Rotary club.”

Shettima also urged Nigerians to dedicate their lives to service to humanity, adding that ‘individualism, and worship of money’ were making life unpleasant in the country.

He said, “Every lifetime, that has been dedicated to professional excellence and community good, represents the type of life, that we must valorise, especially given how much we have become swamped, by an inordinate worship of the cult of money; individualism, and a crass materialism, that has increasingly made life so nasty, brutish and short, in our country, to borrow the words of the Political Philosopher, Thomas Hobbes.”

When asked about the jostle for the vice presidential candidate of the APC, Shettima declined comment.

He said, ” This is a non partisan event it will be an insult to make a political comment here. At the appropriate time we will talk politics.”

In his remarks, Ali called on the government to ensure Nigerians have access to basic infrastructures.

He warned that failure to do this would spell doom for the nation.

Ali said, “Unless all Nigerians have access to basic needs, we won’t be able to make it as a nation. We have abundant human resources but our souls are weak and malfunctioning.”