By Bright Ntramah
The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has called on African leaders to create opportunities that would make their countries attractive to their citizens especially the youth, in order to reap the dividends of the continent’s human capital.
He emphasized that when the countries of Africa create conditions conducive for economic growth and prosperity, the mass migration out of Africa to Europe, the Americas, the Gulf and Asia would be curtailed.
Speaking at the opening of the 19th Plenary Assembly of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) at the Christ The King Parish in Accra, Nana Akufo-Addo challenged colleague heads to make the continent attractive to the citizens to avoid trying to get into parts of the world where they and their generations remain second class citizens.
The six-day plenary assembly which has drawn some 130 participants including cardinals, Bishops, representatives of Church institutions from Africa, the Vatican, Europe and the Americas, is being held under the theme “Ownership of SECAM: Security and migration in Africa and its Islands.”
President Akufo-Addo told the gathering that security and migration in Africa are at the very heart of problems that beset the continent. He said the first responsibility that the state owed to its people is to establish its security and stability.
The President noted that the absence of security and stability had led to Africa’s youth losing confidence they could build successful futures in their home countries, and “migration to Europe and America became the main aspiration of African youth.
“I doubt there will ever be a more depressing phenomenon than our young people thinking of and embarking on the perilous journey across the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean Sea to get to Europe.”
President Akufo-Addo pointed that unless African nations created the atmosphere that would engender hope, incidents like the recent killing and brutalization of hundreds of young people who tried to force their way into the European enclave of Melilla where Europe has a land border with Africa, would “simply be added to the long list of incidents in which young Africans are humiliated and lose their lives in their attempt to reach Europe.”
He said though migration had positive aspects, including the infusion of skills and new energy in the countries of destination, the reality was that if the country from which one start his or her journey of migration was prospering, “you will be treated with respect wherever you go.”
Thus, the President charged his opposites in Africa to carry the responsibility to help take the continent out of poverty, and to “help grow our economies, and to help bring prosperity.”
“We have the responsibility to make our countries attractive to the citizens, and for the young people to have reason to believe they have a future here, and not risk their lives trying to get into parts of the world where they and their generations remain second class citizens.”