Editorial: Nigerian prisoners in China

Posted by admin Headlines Tuesday, September 6th, 2011

Nigeria’s Ambassador to China, Aminu Wali, recently intimated the nation with the fate of 400 Nigerians wallowing in Chinese jails, mostly for hard-drug related offences. The diplomat, in a chat with a group of journalists in Beijing, China, said one of the inmates was executed last month by lethal injection. He lamented that the Nigerian Embassy in Beijing sometimes received up to five letters of arrests of Nigerian citizens in China in a day.

This news on the fate of our compatriots in China is saddening. It is regrettable that such a high number of Nigerians are wallowing in prisons in China on charges related to the despicable crime of drug trafficking.

With the large number of Nigerians in Chinese prisons for drug trafficking, there is no doubt that Nigeria has gained notoriety for drug peddling in that country. This is a slur on Nigeria’s image, and the ambassador has every cause to be worried and to alert the nation to this problem.

It is incontrovertible that Nigerians are buffeted at home by all manner of economic and social problems, but these are no excuses for going into a life of crime abroad.
Ambassador Wali has identified problems with Nigeria’s value system as a possible reason for the resort of an increasing number of our people to drug trafficking. He is right. There is certainly something very wrong with a people who will risk their good name, freedom and, indeed, their very lives, to make money from an illegal activity such as drug trafficking.

China is not the only country in which Nigerians are arrested in droves for drug offences. Such reports have been coming from other parts of the world, so there is urgent need to find a way to address the problem.

We have had occasion in the past to advise the government on the need to create enabling environment for decent living in the country. The twin problems of unemployment and underemployment should be tackled. People should be able to work and earn a wage that would guarantee a decent standard of living.

There is, however, no doubt that the involvement of Nigerians in drug trafficking goes well beyond the problem of joblessness. Nigeria is not the only country with high rate of unemployment. Others have similar problems, yet their citizens do not make a career of the crime of drug peddling.

It is, therefore, necessary to address the problem in Nigeria from its roots. There is need to consider why some Nigerians peddle drugs. Apart from unemployment, it is apparent that the sentences handed to convicted drug peddlers in Nigeria are not stiff enough. The impression has not been created that drug peddling is a serious crime. Our judicial system has a role to play in correcting this. Again, drug barons are not brought to book as frequently as they should. Most times, it is only the moles that are apprehended and given light sentences, thereby making the crime a low-risk, high-profit venture.

Nigerians also do not seem to consider drug trafficking a serious criminal and anti-social activity. There is need for national re-orientation on this and the National Orientation Agency (NOA), other relevant organs of government and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) should take up the challenge of educating the people on the dangers of drug trafficking and addiction. There should be educative jingles on this in the media. Community leaders, writers and filmmakers should also join in the crusade to help change the attitude of Nigerians to hard drugs.

One other factor that has contributed to the increasing involvement of Nigerians in the nefarious drug trade is the penchant for adulation of the wealthy without asking for the source of such wealth, in the country. This creates the impression that it is okay to get rich quickly by any means, fair or foul.
Ambassador Wali has done well to bring this problem to the fore, and for his efforts to make life easier for Nigerian prisoners in China. Let government assist his office to ensure fair trial and treatment for them.

-Sunwp_posts