There is no country in the world today where Nigerians cannot be found, from the skilled and highly prized professional to even the unskilled. For the first category, they either apply for a job in foreign lands or travel to such countries where their skills are highly prized . Today, many Nigerian doctors, engineers, architects and other professionals have transferred their services abroad. The unskilled take the greatest risks in order to leave Nigeria as if there is war. Sun- scourged bones and skeletons often mark the desert trails of those who attempted to escape across the Sahara. Many Nigerians have also reportedly drowned in their attempt to cross into other countries. Others have been arrested as illegal aliens and clamped into prisons in foreign countries from where they are either deported at the end of many years service or died.

These young Nigerians ” escape” only to find out that life there is not easier and sometimes tougher than in Nigeria and, without papers and a work permit, they will do menial work and almost slave and will barely find enough to survive. Those who have survived today are some of the best brains that this country has ever produced.

They are out there in United States of America, UK, India, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, China, Russia, and even African countries, doing what they should be doing here in Nigeria. The unskilled take unimaginable risks in the countries of their sojourn, preferring to face any consequences of their activities than to return to Nigeria. However, one thing common to them all is that they still want to back to their country of birth. They are not immune, as it were, to the age-old saying of “East or West, home is the best”. Even those of them who have become part of the countries of their sojourn, as well as their children, often times encounter discrimination among their peers in work places, in schools and even in places of fun and play. It is sad that unemployment has put the youth in this situation and has bred cultism and youth restiveness which makes our youths escape abroad. This dangerous trend can only be reversed by a change in leadership that would be tolerant of different views, accommodating and committed to peaceful engagement. We need a competent and purposeful government that formulates the appropriate policies, creates the framework and designs programs to empower our youths. We have to ensure that we change the mindset of our youths from this dangerous trend.

What do we do?
The Special Adviser to the Edo State Governor on Media and Communication Strategy, Mr. Crusoe Osagie, says our youths exodus to other lands will soon become a thing of the past. Speaking further, he said the modular refinery project is among the growing list of ongoing legacy projects through Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) with local and international private investors, which include the 55MW CCTEC Ossiomo Power Plant, which has been completed and ready for use; the Benin Enterprise and Industrial Park, which development is ongoing and the Benin River Port, for which preliminary works are ongoing.

Noting that the governor is committed to resetting the economy of the state for prosperity and industrial growth, he said:“The local content component of the refinery project ensures that Edo citizens are trained in welding, refinery operation and fabrication works to enable them participate in the construction of the refinery as well as its operation and post-commissioning. The refinery is at 70 percent completion and we are very sure that it will soon be ready for commissioning.”

He added that the actualisation of the project is premised on the governor’s smart thinking and financial prudence through which he mobilized funds and resources to initiate and execute the project.

Recall that the Edo State Executive Council approved the release of N700 million as redeemable preference shares (investment) in the Edo Refinery and Petrochemical Company Limited.

The venture is expected to create legitimate employment opportunities thereby reducing poverty, providing job opportunities for teeming youths in the communities, facilitating the establishment of a fabrication yard as proposed by the promoters, and creating the basis for expertise, professionalism and further training in the oil and gas industry, noted Osagie.

He added that the take-off of the Edo Refinery and Petrochemicals Company benefits from a series of groundwork by the Obaseki-led administration that led to the setting up of Edo Investment Scheme Limited, a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to hold N2 billion investment funds in which the Ministry of Finance Incorporation (MOFI) and the Edo State Oil and Gas Producing Areas Development Commission (EDSOGPADEC) are to hold shares of 20 percent and 80 per cent respectively.

“It would facilitate the state’s investment in various initiatives across the oil and gas sector; petroleum exploration, drilling and filling stations, sales and supply of gas, agro-allied products, petroleum and petrochemical products and other related businesses,” he added.

There is no gain-saying the fact this project is another giant step by the Obaseki administration to Make Edo Great Again (MEGA).

Obviously, these are projects beyond the what the present age would benefit from. They are projects of the future. What this simply means is that the people of Edo are poised to have a governor in the person of a personality who, though rooted in the present, is concerned with the future. That’s the stuff of visionary leadership