By Olusegun Obisanya
The President/CEO of Blacks Ancestral Native Communities (BANC) Foundation, Dr. Chibuzor Onyema has disclosed that the organisation is collaborating with a foreign firm, ECO Center for Africa, Canada to reverse the dangerous trend among young people in Africa.
Highlighting the economic loss of such unchecked drift to a nation, Onyema said irregular migration threatens to undermine Africa’s development, destabilize polity of nations and erode the very fabric of our otherwise beautiful societies.
He stated this at a news conference entitled “defusing a ticking time-bomb in Lagos recently heralding the upcoming event of the organisation.
He said, “It is against the forgoing background that we, Blacks Ancestral Native Communities (BANC) Foundation and Blacks in All Nations Community (BANC), USA, in collaboration with ECO Center for Africa, Canada have convened the Anti-Irregular Migration Summit (AiMS).
Professor PLO Lumimba is the keynote speaker at the coming summit where, according to BLANC CEO, actionable strategies that will secure a brighter future for Nigeria and its people, as well as Africa, will be discussed.
“Irregular migration, if allowed to continue unchecked, poses significant risks to our development. It drains our human capital, leaving critical sectors like healthcare, education, and industry, starved of talent and innovation. The remittances sent back home, though significant, can never fully compensate for the loss of skilled labour and intellectual capacity that we desperately need to drive economic growth and social progress.
“We are here therefore to announce to the African Youth that all hope is not lost! Blacks Ancestral Native Communities (BANC) Foundation is engaging State and Regional Governments for opportunities to train young people in strategic skills getting them ready for opportunities to work, and in collaboration with some advanced nations, provide legitimate opportunities for such well trained persons to work, not just at home, but in countries where their services may be needed on a talent-exchange basis,” he added.
Calling on African leaders to partner with the foundation in providing non-classroom, skill education for their youth, he emphasised the need to create an environment where our youth can thrive within the country’s borders, where they can see a future filled with opportunity and hope.
He said, “Let us remember that the cost of inaction is too high. Irregular migration is a threat that we cannot afford to ignore. By working together, we can defuse this time bomb and pave the way for a stable, prosperous, and vibrant Nigeria and Africa as a whole.”
