By Erubasa Ovueraye | iNewsAfrica Contributor
When a Currency Loses Its Soul
In Nigeria today, the story of the naira’s collapse is not just found in foreign exchange dashboards or inflation charts — it is written on the weary faces of young men and women trudging across the Sahara or crammed into unsafe boats on the Mediterranean.
Barely a decade ago, ₦150 exchanged for a dollar. Today, Nigerians need over ₦1,500 for the same. Salaries, pensions, and life savings have been shredded. A graduate earning ₦100,000 a month now takes home less than $70 — barely enough to survive at home, and laughably inadequate abroad. The cruel reality is clear: working in Nigeria no longer pays.
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Why the Irregular Routes Tempt
For many families, foreign earnings remain a lifeline. A relative abroad sending just $200 home each month delivers over ₦300,000 — more than many professionals can earn locally. No wonder mothers urge their children to “try their luck abroad,” even if it means trusting smugglers.
Legal migration, meanwhile, grows increasingly unreachable. Visa fees, airfare, and proof-of-funds requirements — all in dollars or euros — rise far beyond the average Nigerian’s reach. Smugglers exploit this gap with “pay later” schemes, turning desperation into dangerous journeys.
A Country Bleeding Talent
The tragedy is twofold. On one side, doctors, engineers, and IT specialists leave through official routes, draining critical sectors. On the other, thousands of unemployed youth flee illegally, only to end up in Libyan detention centers, Nigerien camps, or Mediterranean rescue boats.
This is not only a currency crisis. It is a human crisis — one that is draining the country’s future.
What Must Be Done
Nigeria cannot curb irregular migration without stabilizing the naira. Economic reforms must restore value to wages, tame inflation, and create sustainable jobs. Migration governance must also strengthen to dismantle smuggling networks that prey on vulnerable youth.
Global partners must recognize a simple truth: when the naira falls, migration pressures rise. Europe, North America, and the Middle East are already feeling the ripple effects.
Final Word
The collapse of the naira has stripped dignity from honest work and turned migration into a desperate survival strategy. Each time the currency weakens, another young Nigerian weighs the dangers of the desert against the hopelessness at home.
Unless value is restored to the naira and hope to the people, Nigeria will continue to lose its future — one migrant at a time.
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