Femi Adesina, a presidential aide, is unmoved by the recent wave of migration, claiming that many Nigerians have always wanted to leave the country.
He stated on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics that the situation is not unique to Nigeria.
“The average Nigerian had always wanted to leave. And it is not just in Nigeria.
“It is in most countries of the world, particularly in the third world,” he said during the show.
“They always believe that it is greener on the other side.
“You see, the truth is that if you have an opportunity to better yourself in any part of the world, there is nothing wrong with it.
“If you think migrating legally is good for you, all well and good. By all means, go!” he added.
“But you cannot now say that because people are leaving, then it is a sign that something is fundamentally wrong.”
According to him, “there are Nigerians who would never leave the country no matter what.”
Security: Buhari will leave a safer Nigeria
Aside from that, Adesina spoke about the country’s security, claiming that President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration would leave the country a safer place.
“No doubt about it. He would leave a safer country. When he came in 2015, you could not be sure Nigeria would exist in the next one month.
“As of 2015, what was happening was that nobody could confidently say that Nigeria would be on the map in the following next week, month or year.
“But we saw that he came and took the battle to the insurgency,” Adesina said.
“When he came, the insurgency was the main thing and he took the battle to them. Then, it became hydra-headed – banditry, kidnapping for ransom, cultism, and separatist agitations joined.
“How many challenges can one administration really confront? That’s the issue with the Buhari administration. From day one till now, it was from one challenge to the other.”
Despite these challenges, and with the administration set to end next year, he maintained that the government had done much to mitigate them and would end on a high note.
“But we also see some calm in the country now. You can’t compare what we have today with what we had six months ago or one year ago. Six months is enough time to finish off what is on the ground.”
Adesina, on the other hand, admitted that one administration cannot fully address the country’s security challenges and wants the next government to pick up where President Buhari left off.
“Security would always be a continuum,” he said, noting that even the world’s superpowers are battling one issue or the other.
“You would never get to a time you would sit back and say ‘We are all sound, safe and secure, no need to be alert again’. No, you would never get to that point,” Adesina added.
