The All Progressives Congress (APC) caucus in the Senate has described as sad and unacceptable the deaths of some young Nigerians who showed up to write the application test of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) on Saturday.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) caucus in the Senate has described as sad and unacceptable the deaths of some young Nigerians who showed up to write the application test of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) on Saturday.
According to the APC Senate caucus, the mammoth army of unemployed youth which trooped out to write the test and the resultant deaths have more than enough shown that the nation is sitting on dynamite and may explode into pieces if urgent steps are not taken to rejig the structural and governmental deficiencies which continue to stunt her growth.
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The statement signed by the spokesperson of the caucus, Senator Babafemi Ojudu, says the APC caucus in the Senate is not only worried, but shocked at the seeming nonchalant disposition of many a Nigerian leader to what is clearly a ticking time-bomb.
It adds that this "latest series in the episodic slaughtering of potentials who could have bettered the lot of the country should jolt President Goodluck Jonathan that Nigeria is in a state of emergency deserving of urgent, concentrated and concerted efforts to restore the country back to the path of peace, safety, progress and development with a human face.
According to the APC lawmakers, good economic statistics that have no direct impact on the lives of Nigerians is tantamount to motion without movement.
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The senators argued that what happened during the Nigeria Immigration Service interview on Saturday was a further testimony that every aspect of Nigerian life needs restructuring, adding that it was archaic for the NIS to be conducting paper interview in the 21st century when it could have conducted same via the internet, thus preventing the unnecessary deaths of the young promising Nigerians.
"It is only in Nigeria that this can happen. We are sitting on dynamite. Yearly, we graduate thousands of people without any plan to give them jobs. We throw them on the streets to go and scrounge for survival. We then express outrage when they turn to bomb-throwers and bearers of Ak 47. We express disgust when they become kidnappers, armed-robbers and prostitutes. What for Godsake do we expect of them?" the APC lawmakers queried.
While calling on the president to ensure that those responsible for the lack of planning which resulted in the deaths of the applicants do not go scot-free, the APC Senate caucus said several attempts by well-meaning Nigerians to draw attention to the scary rate of unemployment in the country had been rebuffed and termed as self-serving by some unscrupulous fellows who see Nigeria only from the narrow view of their air-conditioned cars and are therefore oblivious of the sufferings of ordinary Nigerians who daily await a seemingly non-existent succour.
The lawmakers described as most unfortunate the statement credited to the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service that the deaths of the applicants were as a result of impatience on their part, stressing that it was the most irresponsible statement to have come from a Nigerian public officer in recent time.
They added that it was a grim testimony to the fact that most so-called Nigerian leaders have lost touch with their society and the basic human attribute of empathy.
"Were the Comptroller-General poor and couldn't secure employment for his children - would he have uttered the same statement if his child was a victim of the lack of planning by the NIS which he superintends? Would he have nonchalantly explained away the death of promising young men and women who could have bettered the lot of this country?,” they queried.
The APC caucus in the Senate said it was not just sad at the deaths of the applicants, but sadder that the PDP-led Federal Government could handle it with kid gloves as it always does.
Three weeks ago, he said, APC governors , lawmakers and leaders gathered in Ibadan , Oyo State capital to discuss this issue and will soon come out with a position paper that will proffer solution to it .
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