Written by Bright Ntramah
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo called on African leaders to create opportunities to make their countries attractive to their people, especially the youth, to reap the benefits of Africa’s human capital.
He stressed that if African countries create conditions conducive to economic growth and prosperity, mass migration from Africa to Europe, the Americas, the Gulf and Asia will be curtailed.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 19th General Conference of the Episcopal Conference of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) held at Christ the King Parish in Accra, Nana Akufo-Addo appealed to his fellow chiefs to avoid entering parts of the world where they and their generations remain second-class citizens, and instead make the continent attractive to its people.
The six-day General Conference, which will be attended by around 130 cardinals, bishops and representatives of church institutions from Africa, the Vatican, Europe and the Americas, is being held on the theme of “Ownership of SECAM: Security and Migration in Africa and its Islands”.
President Akufo-Addo told the gathering that African security and migration were at the very heart of the issues plaguing the continent. He said the first responsibility of a state to its people is to establish its security and stability.
The President noted that the lack of security and stability has made African youth lose confidence in their ability to build a successful future in their home countries, and that “migration to Europe or the Americas has become the main aspiration of African youth.”
“There is perhaps no more depressing phenomenon than when our young people contemplate and embark on the perilous journey across the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean Sea to Europe.”
President Akufo-Addo said that unless African countries foster an atmosphere of hope, incidents such as the recent killings and brutalization of hundreds of young people who tried to invade the European enclave of Melilla, which shares a land border with Africa, “will only join the long list of incidents in which young Africans are humiliated and killed trying to reach Europe.”
He said that while there are positive aspects to migration, such as an injection of skills and new energy in the destination country, the reality is that if the country where you start your journey is prosperous, “you will be treated with respect wherever you go.”
There, the president charged African opposition with the responsibility of lifting the continent out of poverty and “helping the economy grow and bringing prosperity.”
“We have a responsibility to make our countries attractive to our people, to ensure that our young people have reason to believe that they have a future here, and to ensure that we do not risk our lives in parts of the world where we and our generation remain second-class citizens.”
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