Following the deportation of some Nigerians from the United States of America, the federal government of Nigeria has been advised to immediately institute a legal action against the US government to reverse the policy.
President Donald Trump of the United States had made good his threat to deport those he described as lacking valid papers in the country. Under his new immigration policy, among the other 100 executive bills he signed into law on assumption of office on January 20th this year, the 47th American president has since begun deporting those he said, violated the policy.
Last week, over 85 Nigerians became the first batch of deportees into the country by the US, and are being housed in Lagos, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs handling the issue.
However, reacting to this development in Lagos, at the weekend, a social commentator and Chairman, Rimax Institute of Computer Science and Technology, Lagos, Chief Livinus Okwara, urged the federal government to sue the American government.
He said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu should not waver at all about what he described as a critical matter.
According to him, Tinubu should collaborate with the relevant government’s bodies, such as the National Assembly, Ministry of Justice, 36 states and Abuja, as well as the 774 local government areas in the country to ensure its success.
He said: “Nigeria is a member of the UN; so, we have the legal right to ask the global body to intervene in this matter. It is a human right issue. By deporting nationals in handcuffs and putting them in chains, amounted to criminalising them. This is unacceptable.”
Okwara, who is the Nna Ndigbo of Lagos State, and a staunch member of the government All Progressives Congress (APC), party in the country, also said it was thoroughly distasteful to maltreat our citizens, black people and other affected nationals from Mexico, Brazil and Nicaragua, among others.
He said many Nigerians living in America went there for different purposes, including as medical doctors, nurses, engineers, pilots and journalists, thereby contributing to the development of that country, and advancing that they deserved decent human treatment.
He advised the government to give the returnees, including other nationals who may wish to live in Nigeria, dual citizenship and freedom to engage in legitimate businesses, including hotel / tourism, property, road construction, education and Information Technology. He decried as stifling Trump’s tariff economic policy of 25 per cent on foreign imports, saying that his vision is to rule the world.
“He wants to take over boundaries, including Canada. I had predicted the emergence of someone who will be akin to ‘666’. That person is Donald Trump.”
The APC stalwart said as the alleged illegal immigrants began avoiding immigration officials, including abandoning their work places, like factories, schools, churches and mosques, to evade arrest, just as a new international currency, BRICS, being nurtured by China, Brazil, Russia, South Africa, and Nigeria, for example, is coming on stream soon, American economy may soon face serious challenges that may lead to its eventual collapse, if the policy is not reviewed immediately.
He said the federal government of Nigeria must be fully ready to accommodate “our people”; and collaborate with their families for proper rehabilitation and treatment.
Last modified: March 1, 2025
