Migration; movement of ideas not people

Migration has been a part of mans history for as long as he has existed. People have migrated for a collection of reasons, some now seen as mundane and some as germane; from climatic reasons to nutritional reasons, such as food and water during famines and droughts, for natural resources that were not available in their environment, for trading, war, natural disaster reasons and so on.

Over time the reasons for migration has gradually declined, for one, early migrants devised means through technology to solve the problems that made them migrate in the first place, another reason is that migration laws became stricter in these so called migrants destination choices. As population increases all right thinking governments are vested with the responsibility to diligently manage their scarce or plenteous resources to the benefit of their citizens first and then others.

As migrant laws thicken, in countries like Australia, France, United States of America, discourse from varying quarters have revealed a dichotomy of opinions. We have those that believe that migration should be supported and those who are against it. Some feel a sense of entitlement to these countries, and this stems from the notion that their forefathers are a part of the success story of what the countries are today. Whilst there is some truth in this statement there are also a lot of flaws in it. I would not parse the statement so as not to digress from my focus.

By unfortunate circumstances our forefathers were taken to a then unknown land for the purpose of development through slavery, looking forward years after that dream has been realized, and the progeny of the enslaved demand some form of equity for the atrocious act. But I ask this question, would our forefathers, if given the choice, have wanted to stay back or return to develop their own land to become the utopia of their dreams? I think your guess is as good as mine.

In today’s world, why do people migrate? For food? No, for climatic reasons? No, to source for natural resources? Not really. I have come to the conclusion that the majority, migrate for ideological reasons. Ideas which have transformed the environment of the host nation, making it more attractive to them. These host nations or developed countries have eradicated most of their plausible reasons to migrate. People who otherwise emigrate from these migrant destinations do so for idiosyncratic reasons and not because of lack of amenities.

Migrants need to have a consciousness that a place can only be as good as the people in it. Migrants must learn that the utopia they seek in other lands was once a conjecture of someone or peoples’ thinking. They must understand that they can as well eliminate the reasons for their migration by instead seeking out a solution, either by research, transfer of technology and knowledge sharing or invention for the problem. And if you must migrate do it with a purpose, a burden to seek for solutions. Encroachment on foreign land for whatever reason should be undesirable irrespective of whatever diplomatic nomenclature we give it. We are all vested with the responsibility to better ourselves and the environment we leave in.

Nigeria is the most populous black nation on earth, and also has one of the highest numbers of migrants. We migrate largely for mundane reasons; education, social amenities, jobs, health, career etc reasons that can be eradicated if we put our minds to it. Citing America as an example, President Donald Trump has been on the grill for the stringent immigration laws he has/is putting up. While some hate on him for this, I tend to think to the contrary. I see his reforms as a wakeup call to sleeping nations.  America was built on sincere and patriotic ideologies, evident by a system that places justice, human rights, and civil liberties above all things. America continually seeks ways to reinvent itself through policies, science and technology, for the betterment of its environment and humanity at large, America has fought the giants that cause its people to migrate.

So I ask Africa, for how long your people would have to live as nomads, scouting for vegetation, when a country like Dubai has defied nature and made vegetation out of a desert. For how long will your people have to search for portable clean water, when a country like Germany has developed excellent water treatment/purification systems, for how long will your people have to migrate because of civil unrest as a result of wars caused by resource sharing, when the UAE has resolved this sort of issue. Would migration have been the wish of our forefathers?

I make bold to say that if the tables were turned and Africans moved to the United States and vice versa, in a couple of years Africans would want to migrate back to Africa. The ideologies that make the developed countries so attractive should preoccupy the minds for intending migrants, because that’s where y/our solution lie. So before you pay for that visa application fee, before you pay that school fees, before you write those exams, ask yourself, can I migrate those solution-forming-ideas home? or better still create them.