On Illegal Migration, Part 2 (Discussions With My Father #5)
Click Here to read the first Part
“It’s not always like that,” Daisy argues. “Some believe if you go to Europe, things will just magically become better, so they abandon the good thing they have going here for the chance. One of my former hair stylists –a Benin boy –told me. I remember that day very well.”
She shifts her position, gets comfortable and launches into her story. “I remember that day very well. We were talking as he worked on my hair when he let it slip that he would soon be leaving the area. When we inquired, he said he was going to play football.”
My breath caught and I raised an eyebrow in alarm. That was precisely how Itohan’s story had started.
“At first he wouldn’t say where,” Daisy continues. “If we asked ‘Have you been signed to a club?’, he’d say ‘Something like that’. ‘Where is the club?’ He’d say ‘Very far from here’. But then, unfortunately for him, some of his friends had come around and they pressed – you know how guys can be – and he allowed that it was out of the country. When we asked if he had gotten his VISA, he smiled cunningly and said he wasn’t going that way. Okay, fine... Now, tell us which club it is and why they weren’t helping you secure a VISA, we asked him. That was when he finally admitted that he hadn’t really gotten signed, but he would ‘hustle it out’ when he got there. Then he gave us a look and added, ‘I’m a Benin boy, remember?’”
I scoff in disbelief and amusement. “He’s a Benin boy? What dos that have to do with anything?”
Daisy raises her eyebrows. “Oh, you don’t know?” She exclaimed. “Many of those who grew up in that area believe if you haven’t tried leaving the country by any means, you are seriously slacking. You’ll hear fathers asking their children why they haven’t gone out yet so they can send back Euros for them and their siblings. It’s a normal thing.”
I shake my head, shocked. Fathers urging their children on such a dangerous and illegal undertaking? It was beyond appalling.
“When I went back to that saloon a few weeks ago,” she concludes. “I was told he no longer works there and was no longer in the area. I think it’s safe to assume he was gone on his journey.”
“That is my point exactly,” father says. “If he had more than enough, he wouldn’t have gone.”
“And if he was satisfied with what he has, he wouldn’t have gone either,” Daisy contradicts.
I think they are both right. I glance back at the TV. “This is why ‘Itohan’ is being rerun again,” I say. “To spread awareness of how dangerous illegal migration could be.”
Mother scoffs. “Oh, please! They already know!” She says. “They know and they attempt it anyway. Didn’t Hope watch this same ‘Itohan’ with us, here in this house? And yet, she tried the exact same thing. This situation – the whole black slave trade thing – is no one’s fault but theirs.”
“No!” Father counters. “Many are deceived and taken against their will.”
“Trafficked,” I murmur, understanding.
“In fact,” he continues. “Most are taken this way, sometimes by a close relative. By the time they realise what has happened, it’s too late. The traffickers cut off all their communication with the outside world and starve them until they have no choice but to do what they are told. It happened to one of my friends – Pa Jonah – when we were in Lagos.”
He settles in and begins the story. “Pa Jonah’s daughter had just completed her secondary level education, but had missed out on gaining admission to the university that year. She had already settled in to wait for the next JAMB examinations when one of her uncles, a cousin of Pa Jonah’s happened to come by and notice her idleness. This man told Pa Jonah that he would take her and sponsor her in learning a trade somewhere she would by getting paid while learning and working. Of course Pa Jonah was ecstatic. He accepted happily and sent his daughter, along with another of his nieces, away with the man.”
Mother was nodding. I could see from her face that she knew the story too. Father cleared his throat and continued, seething now.
Watch out for 'On Illegal Migration, Part 3' (Final Part) to complete the story of Pa Jonah's daughter!
Discussions with my father is a blend of fact and fiction, dwelling on issues of life, past events and moral values.
But mostly made up of fact.
Upvote, Comment, Resteem
Follow me @petermarie