The recent report that over 7000 Nigerians were stranded in Libya has again brought to the fore the realities of the current socio-economic situation in Nigeria.
Chairman of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, NiCOM, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, jolted the nation with her revelation that approximately 7,000 Nigerian migrants are currently stranded in Libya.
Dabiri-Erewa made this known at the official launch of the International Organisation for Migration Strategic Plan for Nigeria from 2025 to 2027 in Abuja.
Decrying the ugly trend, she was quoted to have lamented: “As we speak, 7,000 Nigerians are stranded in Libya. In 2025, people will still travel through the desert to die.”
She expressed concern over the continued trend of irregular migration by road through perilous routes.
The event also featured remarks from the International Organisation for Migration, IOM, Chief of Mission in Nigeria, Sharon Dimanche, who emphasised the collaborative nature of the new strategic plan, explaining that the strategy was not an external imposition but a nationally driven initiative.
“This is not just an IOM strategy for Nigeria, it is Nigeria’s strategy supported by IOM, developed through inclusive consultations and shaped by national priorities,” she stated.
Calling for collective action, she urged the government’s institutions and the stakeholders to take ownership of the strategy and ensure its implementation.
“We are not just launching the strategy to leave it there, but I’m counting on each and every one of you to implement that strategy together, so that when we sit down three or five years from now, we can hold each other accountable.
“We want to see that difference. And I’m counting on you for your support to make that difference,” she said.
Again, on Saturday, May 10, 2025, 78 Nigerian victims of human trafficking were repatriated from Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, to Lagos. This was after a rescue mission coordinated by the Federal Government through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its partners.
The operation was a collaboration between the Nigerian Embassy in Abidjan, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and Air Peace Airlines.
The development and similar ones plus the latest report about 70,000 stranded in Libya, has been generating reactions from different quarters as to why many Nigerians have decided to tread the dangerous routes of migrating to foreign countries illegally, and most often, through the desert.
Apart from insecurity that has enveloped the country; many are running away from the economic hardship that has remained unabated. This situation has been worsened by the high rate of unemployment and its corresponding rising inflation, with its attendant effects of the high cost of basic foods, thereby creating gangs of frustrated and depressed Nigerians who could do anything to survive.
The continued hardship in the country with the economy becoming so gloomy and dire such that hunger is currently spreading agony and sorrow across many households in Nigeria, is a big contributory factor to the rising trend in migration, not only to Europe and America, but also to other African countries.
Food has become a luxury and serious existential threat to millions of Nigerians. It has got to a point where those who can’t resign to fate, have decided to escape from the country either by hook or crook.
From East to West, North to South, Nigerian masses are singing the same song. They are saying that they can no longer bear the pains of the government’s economic policies, which have made life unbearable and hellish for them.
Most households could no longer afford to buy food in the market as prices kept rising at an astronomical rate and on a daily basis; a situation they claimed had rendered them less than humans.
To make matters worse, Nigerians are also under heavy attacks by various armed groups, ranging from Boko Haram Islamists sect to Fulani herdsmen militia, bandits and kidnappers, without any hope in sight.
Kidnapping for ransom has suddenly become a big business with almost everybody becoming a target. Those who can’t afford to pay the huge ransom when kidnapped, are killed and their body parts sold to ritualists that trade on human parts.
The recent disclosure of the number of Nigerians stranded in Libya only accentuates several other reports of Nigerians who are stranded across other African countries.
Most of the people who spoke among the 7000 stranded Nigerians in Libya, blamed their plight on the hardship in Nigeria. Many of them were on their way to escape to Europe through the Mediterranean Sea but got trapped in Libya.
While some Nigerians believe there is nothing wrong in what the people have done since they were only searching for how to survive, there are those who lamented that even if Nigerians should run away from their country in search of greener pastures, it should not be to a war-torn country like Libya.
A former lawmaker in Katsina State, Yusuf Shehu agreed that many Nigerians could be migrating to other countries for reasons other than economic hardship.
He told DAILY POST that, “It may not necessarily be due to hunger and starvation. Many people are migrating due to insecurity because if you look at states like Katsina, Zamfara, Plateau and Benue, there is no reason people in those states would not migrate to any place where they could find peace and security in their lives.
“Those Nigerians who knew that there was a crisis in Libya and still decided to go there believe that even with the situation in Libya, it is still safer than Nigeria and its economy is still more stable than Nigeria’s economy.
“Libya’s currency is much stronger than Nigeria’s Naira in terms of value, so Nigerians would naturally navigate towards such an environment,” he said.
But, for Mallam Ibrahim Sabiu, those Nigerians did not just migrate to Libya because it is better than Nigeria.
According to him, they migrated to the place because they felt they could earn a living there and have their life and property protected.
“They couldn’t just fold their hands and watch hunger and starvation ravage them. They needed a place to run to for survival and they felt Libya could be better. Unfortunately, they got stranded as they discovered that things were not as they seemed.
“Also, a good number of them are those who got stuck in Libya from where they planned to enter Europe through the Mediterranean Sea. So, it is not as if all of them planned to migrate to Libya. Libya happens to be one of the trafficking routes to Europe,” he told our correspondent.
According to the President of the Middle Belt Forum (MBF), Dr Pogu Bitrus, what happened was a true representation of the economic realities in Nigeria.
He stated that hundreds of thousands of Nigerians were already in other African countries apart from Libya.
“Many of them have been there since the economy took a dangerous dive, with insecurity at an all time high. “So, what you see is a true reflection of our current reality.
“There are a lot of Nigerians in other African countries, who were chased out of Nigeria, because of insurgency and economic situation. “So, that is just the reality, but as long as there is insecurity, people will migrate and move out of this country,” he said in an interview with DAILY POST.
For a Lagos businessman, Samson Odega, the development was embarrassing.
He blamed the situation on the biting hunger across Nigeria, and the ravaging insecurity, which has prevented many Nigerians from living their normal lives.
He, however, warned that if the government did not respond urgently to halt the trend, it could escalate to something more worrisome.
“A stitch in time saves nine. The government should do everything possible to avoid the looming danger. They should not allow the situation to degenerate beyond what is currently on ground, otherwise, what would follow is what nobody can imagine accurately,” he warned.
In his contribution, a migration expert and founder, Patriotic Citizens Initiative, PCI, Osita Osemene, believes that the government should do something to fix the country’s economy.
He stressed that fixing the economy and securing lives and property of citizenry were the only way to halt Nigerians from moving in droves, not only to Europe and America, but also to African countries, as we have seen, in search of better life.
“This number is just a tip of the iceberg. There are more Nigerians who are in terrible situations in so many other African countries.
“I think our leaders should just help us. They should try to fix this country. Nigeria is blessed with abundant human and mineral resources and they should not be found in these kinds of situations.
“The only way to stop people from migrating in such a large number is to fix the country. If the Nigerian economy starts booming, with security of lives and property assured, some of these unnecessary migrations will stop.
“Mind you, many of those people were probably on their way to Europe. They planned to escape to Europe through the Mediterranean Sea from Libya. But, somehow, things did work out well for them and they got stranded.
“So, it is not as if they left Nigeria for Libya; it was supposed to be a transit point before their final destination, which is Europe.
“As for those that were repatriated from Cote D’ivoire, you could say they might have been deceived to believe that things are greener over there. But, when they got there, it was a different situation entirely.
“The truth is that many of them were deceived. Yes, it was easy to deceive them because things are not good in the country but let us bear in mind that they were not given the true picture of the situation over there and that is always the situation.
“They won’t tell you the truth because if they do, you may not want to go and these are traffickers who live off these migrants. So, I think our leaders just need to fix this country and all this nonsense will stop naturally,” he stated.
