In the light of Libya's slave trade

It's no longer news that citizens of some Sub Saharan African Countries who sojourned illegally to Libya, recently experienced mass deportation, after some Libyans {apparently couldn’t have been all of them)were touted to have been enmeshed in slave trade.

Talking about fellow ‘Africans’, who were supposed to be our brothers, irrespective of the fact that we might not necessarily  be 'skinned alike'.

I am naturally a bad student of geography as all I knew about Libya prior to this moment was that they once had real ‘economic degradation' under their former Prime Minister, Muhammad Ghadafi.

Of course I knew it as a Northern African Country, but I never really paid attention to the fact that only the Mediterranean Sea separated it from the European Countries.

The CNN video footage which manifested the existence of the ongoing slave trade reflected how our noble brothers and sisters fared badly in the cells where they were camped as slaves.

 I sought to know how it all begun. News had it that those that migrated from my home country, Nigeria, boarded buses en-route a state in the North(Kano state), all the way down to the dessert in Niger republic where many died of dehydration and even hunger before they made it to Libya. They were supposed to sail on the Mediterranean sea down to Europe,but instead as against what they were told, many were sold as slaves for sums ranging between  three hundred to four hundred dollars, ($300-$400).
Thereafter they were forced to do hard jobs,the women amongst them were raped, and other inhumane treatment meted out to them resulting into loss of lives of many.

To the very few that were relatively lucky to have made it to the Med sea, news confirmed it that they were allegedly transported in flimsy inflatable boats provided by smugglers where they were abused by Libya's coastguard which sometimes intercept migrant boats.

Some simply drowned like the twenty seven Teenage girls who lost their lives in the sea some weeks back but buried by the Italian Government.

In all of this, it is surprising to know that only a few percentage of those that embarked on this deadly sojourn were unaware of what lies ahead. Especially  the  possibility of the 'slavery'  aspect of it was of course, never communicated.

 A whole lot of them knew that their lives could be cut short in the dessert,or that they might drown in the sea.

Some Sudanese women even took three months contraceptive injection before travelling to Libya because of the expectation they would raped!

But as we all know the world over, money isn’t picked on the streets or plucked from trees in Europe as its applicable anywhere in the world so why risk it all that desperately? How about we advise our people to sit at home and get things going and if you must travel, do so legitimately.

A whole lot of these people deported blamed the harsh economy and failed system for their desperation. I know it gets annoying by the day that we get slapped in the face the alarming figures of money looted by our legislatures.

Habitually, they had amassed more than what their whole generation could utilise,but then is that an excuse to want to jet out illegally and be enslaved or die young?

Surprisingly though, many of these people raise as much as two thousand to five thousand dollars just to travel and be enslaved in a country like Libya, yet when deported, loss creeps in.

That seemingly huge sum of money ‘wasted’ on illegal immigration is enough to be a successful entrepreneur.

There's one thing we probably are oblivious of, as soon as any individual believes he or she cannot make it in his or her country, that's the end. S/he will never make it on a Nigerian soil as such would never stop dwelling on the negativities encountered in his or her nation.

Instead, focus on the positivity.
 It’s just a matter of one’s mindset.

   You are what you think.

Be of the opinion that through hard work, coupled with divine grace from God, in as much as a legitimate travelling opportunity isn't availed you just yet, here is a place for you to think of something innovative and be a pace setter.

If paid job isn't coming your way just yet, simply archive your certificates (if you are a graduate),research into community needs, think of a solution to

  introduce and make money. Living above your 'means' simply referred to as 'fake life' in the local parlance and pride is why you can't start out meager in your home land, but you could do all manner of dirty jobs which are highly unthinkable on a foreign land where nobody sees you.

Here goes Nigeria, a land of opportunities, where one man named Ali baba made a lucrative profession out of comedy and made it a goldmine, needless to say he would write out an encyclopedia on the challenges he faced while climbing up the ladder of his career. Now his daily appearance at a public function speaks cool cash.

 And then a woman in Ibadan who innovated sachet water took us off the unhygienic nylon water we drank all through the 90s. 
Late Otunba Gaddafi never stopped inspiring me with his shit business which he made serious, so if you must leave your birth country, know the depth of the dam you want to plunge into before you dive,
      'lest thy hit thy swimming head on a rock'.

I know we all want to miss this country from abroad, but if you must travel, do so quite legitimately.

Anyways, what do I know?, I’m just an ordinary Nigerian with a common sense.