7,000 Stranded Nigerians, NIDCOM And Worth Of A Nigerian Life

 By Magnus Onyibe

The recent revelation by Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chairperson of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), that more than 7,000 Nigerians are currently stranded in Libya, inspired this intervention. Her statement revived painful memories that moved me, eight years ago in March 2017, to publish an article lamenting the surge of illegal migration by our young men and women in search of greener pastures abroad.

That desperate pursuit often ended tragically, as countless Nigerians lost their lives attempting to cross the Sahara Desert on foot via Libya into Europe or navigating the Mediterranean Sea in rickety wooden boats into the Lampedusa islands, Italy.

Nigeria: The Warnings From Sanusi And Danjuma

 By Lasisi Olagunju  

The Washington Post of May 29, 1979 reported an exchange between President Idi Amin Dada of Uganda and an agent of a British money-printing firm. The Ugandan dictator asked the man to help him print two million Ugandan shillings worth of 100 shilling notes. The Briton accepted the offer but "gingerly" asked Idi Amin how he was going to be paid for his services. "Print three million and take one million for yourself" was Amin's answer. 

*Danjuma 

The Ugandan leader had a minister of foreign exchange. Before Idi Amin's engagement with the Briton, the minister had informed the president that “the government coffers are empty.” Amin looked deeply at him and retorted: “Why (do) you ministers always come nagging to President Amin? You are stupid. If we have no money, the solution is very simple: you should print more money.”