By Ese Awhotu
The Vice President Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), African Group, Senator Kabir Ibrahim Gaya has called for effective implementation of Goal One (1) and Ten (10) of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a panacea to the problems of Irregular Migrations and Refugees in Africa.
“If the Goal One (1) and Ten (10) of the Agenda 2030 for sustainable development of the United Nations is implemented by African countries, it will really help in addressing the problems of irregular migration and refugees facing the continent,” Gaya stated.
Senator Gaya whose Kano South Senatorial District in the National Assembly is the largest constituency in Nigeria, made this assertion, when he was departing for the 138th IPU Assembly and Related Meetings that will be taking place in Geneva, Switzerland, from 24th to 28th of March 2018.
According to Senator Gaya, this call has become pertinent, against the background of the statistics released in 2017, by the United Nations, which indicated that there are estimated 258 million International migrants and IDPs. The report also stated that, the total number of International Migrant and IDPs has grown by 49 per cent since 2000.
This estimation, the global body said has surpassed the global population growth rate of 23 per cent. As a result, migrants have gone from 2.8 per cent to 3.4 per cent of the world’s population.
Africa, the report says, accounts for (34 million or 14 per cent) of the population and most of them followed through wrong and dangerous routes by embarking on an irregular migration to get to their various destinations by fleeing poverty and conflict at home like the insurgency in the North Eastern part of Nigeria.
Elaborating further, on the provisions of the SDG Goals, Senator Gaya said, “If the problem of poverty is being addressed which is Goal One (1) and inequalities is reduced drastically as contained in Goal Ten (10) of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by various stakeholders on the Continent the problem of irregular migrants IDPs and refugees will become a thing of the past.”
He urged all hands to be on deck to check the menace of poverty facing Africa.
“They must be cooperation among the various stakeholders from all sectors across the continent in order to make the implementation of the Agenda 2030 possible.”
