Thinking of being in the UK Illegally? £3,000 security bond might just have you thinking twice…

The Dynamics of Emigration:

The outward movement of people from one country to another, emigration, is driven by many reasons which are not limited to tourism/vacation centred; to have a better life as compared to what obtains in one’s home country (entailing the availability of social amenities and infrastructural facilities, employment opportunities, security of lives and properties and above all, a people-centric government to mention a few).

The above is what differentiates the emigration in the developed to the underdeveloped/developing countries. The developed world has its citizenries, exuding an admirable passion for their home country and so many comfortable not to travel abroad after all, what would be offered elsewhere is present at home. But to those who travel abroad, such travels are driven by tourism, job related transfer and education (research related) as against travelling with a view to playing cat and mouse with the foreign country’s immigration service, the norm by many in the underdeveloped world.

On the flip side, the underdeveloped world have the majority of its people emigrating due to the inadequate or absent of well structured and equipped higher education system, a very harsh business environment hampered by corruption, inadequate power supply and poor transport system which is strengthened by a cobwebbed network of bad roads and widespread poverty with many having the mindset that a better home exist elsewhere.

From both illustrations, it is noted that the generality of citizens seeing their home as home is down to one distinct feature, the sensitivity of the government to the plights of the people which in the long run drives the government to meeting the developmental goals and objectives of the nation as a whole.

According to a publication by 24/7 Wall St. titled "Countries with the most Immigrant", the United Kingdom having a total of 7.8 million immigrants (12.4% of its population) living in the country, was listed as the 6th nation with the highest immigration level in the world. Other nations listed are the United States of America, Russian Federation, Germany, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, France and Canada, as the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, seventh and eight countries respectively.

On June 27, 2013, workpermit.com had a publication stating that “the UK's Home Secretary, Theresa May, has announced that UK immigration will launch a pilot scheme in November which will test the effectiveness of making foreigners from 'high risk countries' pay £3,000 security bonds to prevent them from overstaying their UK visitor visas.” In the course of this work, these high risk countries namely India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nigeria and Ghana would also be referred to as pilot victims.

This £3,000 security bond restriction to just 6 of the 54 commonwealth, not to talk of the over 200 countries in the world has widely defaced its expected positive effect of being a tool for the UK government to control its yearly budgetary expenses in favour of its citizens and legal immigrants, as against the many illegal immigrants (foreigners that stay beyond the timeline indicated in their visas).   

Emigrating illegal-immigrants:

 

 With its projected implementation in November, 2013, the £3,000 would be employed as a monetary tool through which an agreement between the government of the United Kingdom and every visitor from these high risk nations is made to discourage these visitors from exceeding their stay in the country.

On this note, every visitor, who stays in the United Kingdom beyond the timeline or date stipulated on his or her visa, would not just be made to leave the United Kingdom but also forfeit the £3,000 paid on entry into the country. 

The effect of the £3,000 is of mixed effect to the United Kingdom and to its visiting nations. This is discussed in below:

 The “High Risk Countries Bond” effect To the United Kingdom government:

1.         £3,000 is a lot of money and interestingly, from the economist point of view, the said amount would be of economic advantage to the government, as the money would be used for the various economy strengthened driven activities employed by the UK government. Remember that no interest is paid to foreigners upon the refund of the money and to the defaulters, the £3,000 is not given back to them.    

2.         If effected the £3,000 bond would go a long way in dropping the “vacation centred travels” from these countries to the UK. In recognition of the fact that many people from these countries would be unable to afford the money, it is expected that the goal of having a drop of its immigrant from these countries would no doubt be achieved. The big question from this is if the exclusion of the other 48 member countries of the Commonwealth, not to mention the world would in the long run, not make the High Risk Countries Bond, a shadow of itself, thus widely regarded as ineffective, in addition to the fact that it is widely considered to be discriminatory..

3. The illegal immigration rate from these high risk countries, would no doubt drop, as it would forestall the intention of many who planned to exceed their visa stay in the UK from playing cat and mouse with the UK government. In similar fashion, cbc news reports “was a key issue in Cameron's election campaign for his Conservative Party. Cameron has pledged to cut net immigration from 252,000 people a year in 2010 to 100,000 a year by 2015.”

As observed in the preceding, the third point indeed makes this new legislation an expected benefit to the UK government, as disclosed by dailymail.co.uk . In the article titled “Immigration is hurting us, say six out of ten British voters: Fears over impact on jobs and public services”, an opinion poll revealed that more than three-quarters of people (77 per cent) said they supported a ‘drastic’ reduction in immigration, saying it would make it easier for British people to find jobs and reduce the pressure on public services.

The “High Risk Countries Bond” effect to the pilot victims:

1. A discouragement of “pilot victims” nationals from embarking on tourist visit to the UK;

2. A reprisal action by the pilot victims to the United Kingdom, which could be a dent on the diplomatic relationship between the United Kingdom and these nations. For example, on July 30, 2013, punchng.com reported that the Nigerian government’s indication to retaliate and respond with likewise measures. Also, on June 25, 2013, bbc.co.uk reported that “Indian business leaders have criticised plans to make visitors pay a £3,000 "security bond" to enter the UK.” These are an indication of the far-reaching outcry that has followed the expected immigration legislation in the United Kingdom.

3. A wakeup call for these governments to be efficient at ruling through the provision of the essential social amenities and infrastructural facilities which would mitigate their nationals from seeking greener pastures elsewhere, as they should be made to see home as home, as against the mindset of other countries being better than home.

Irrespective of “the UK government, aware of the severity of the situation, is going to limit the access of migrants to the labor market of the country, and deal with the immigration policy of the United Kingdom in its entirety. The British Prime Minister said that the government intended to stop the flow of migrants to the UK. In particular, it is proposed to impose fines on private landlords who fail to check the immigration status of their tenants. Those who lease housing to unregistered visitors will face a fine of 1,000 pounds”, in addition to “Prime Minister David Cameron and Queen Elizabeth II share the opinion that the access for immigrants to unemployment benefits must be limited to six months, and new rules for local governments must be created. When allocating social housing, they will have to give priority to the locals. Companies that use illegal labor will likely face large fines. Cameron also said that only after 12 months of being in the country immigrants may receive civil legal aid” as reported  by pravdu.ru, immigration being the British government’s biggest problem is a difficulty that could ironically encourage the pilot victims and other developing countries of the world to take the bull by the horns at solving their governmental deficiencies, whilst encouraging their nations to shun neither illegal travels nor illicit stay in a foreign land but stay back at home to contribute to the development of the nation.

Achieving this however, is not about sweet talk but the exude of a pragmatic determination and sincerity of the government as measured in its policies effected, projects executed, accountability and of course, its zero tolerance on corruption because corruption is the biggest setback and headache to a nation’s development. 

2 BMWs at $1.6million: The final Bus Stop but still counting with little time left.

THE HEADLINERS

In the last fortnight, the Nigerian Aviation Minister, Princess Stella Oduah has been the headliner of major dailies in the country and across the internet climate, not for being a heroine on her transformation of the Nigerian Aviation industry but cruelly and despicably purchasing 2 armoured BMW cars to the tune of $1.6million.  

Cruelly because Nigeria is a country with a widespread poverty rate and many economic developmental handicaps have falling victim to corruption and despicably because a Minister having such ambition only rubbishes the so called fight against corruption by the current administration of President Goodluck Jonathan. It is no news that the Nigerian economy has in recent years been grappled with corruption which have hugely contributed to inhibiting the expected placement of the West African giant in the league of the developed world.

Though as interestingly observed by the President with his words "Fellow citizens, in every decision, I shall always place the common good before all else.  The bane of corruption shall be met by the overwhelming force of our collective determination, to rid our nation of this scourge. The fight against corruption is a war in which we must all enlist, so that the limited resources of this nation will be used for the growth of our commonwealth" during his swearing in ceremony  on May 29, 2011 as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Aviation's Minster's latest $1.6millions (for 2 armoured BMWs) addition to her fleet of official automobiles has only made the zero tolerance on corruption a deafening sweet talk to the Nigerian populace and the world over. 

Many headliners contradicting the corruption stern by the current administration include the two years imprisonment with the option of ₦250, 000.00 fine on Mr. John Yusuf, the director of the Police Pension Office, for stealing ₦2billion in the ₦38.8 billion Nigeria Police pension scam and the publication titled "Corruption massive under Jonathan - US" by the Punch Newspapers (Nigeria) which highlighted notable headliners in the Nigeria media climate that have in the last two years (2011-2013) further weakened the President Jonathan's regime zero tolerance on corruption.

But despicably, the current headliner and title of this article is the height and should be a motivation for the government to have a final NO to corruption, due to the fact that earlier committed acts as earlier mentioned has been a shadow of earlier stressed zero tolerance on corruption by previous aministrations.

STILL COUNTING WITH LITTLE TIME LEFT

2 years down the line and 2 years to the 2015 election in Nigeria, the Goodluck Jonathan administration is still considered to showboat corruption as against flushing it out in a bid to edge the nation closer to the well sang vision 20:2020 ambition which is now a tall ambition, as the chances of its achievements is far from a dream.

So far so short, too much has been squandered making headlines but sadly the concluding investigation are not made for public consumption, in as much as such funds were public fund, tax payers money, funds that if appropriately used, would have contributed in their bits and pieces to a fast paced growth of the Nigerian economy.

Corruption they say is everywhere and having an ugly position is no lip service but an action with its ugly end in terms of penalties and punishments to its perpetuators opened to the public so as to be a deterrent to other erring elected and appointed government officials, not forgetting the led or general public. 

China for example is one nation that was among the most corrupt nations in the world but since its frown at corruption, the Asian economic giant has had its economy remarkably strengthened, thanks to the capital punishment, the death penalty or at worst, a suspended death sentence (life imprisonment) meted to erring individuals, especially government officials.

It would be incomplete to mention that the frown against corruption in China has hugely contributed to the Chinese economy having a facelift and widely considered as among the fastest growing economies of the world. In this vein, a recent corruption case in the Asian giant is its anti-graft authority's punishment of eight people at a state-owned rail construction firm for spending more than $100 million on hospitality last year (2012).

Also, the recent bribery scandal to shake the US Navy, which has the culprits, senior officers in the Navy, arrested and investigated with no delay is another example the Nigerian government should take a cue from because in Nigeria, such individuals would be left in office with the government's investigation and persecution move, a cat and mouse race until a persistent public outcry which leads to the relieve of such persons from his or her duties and corruption motivating penalties (very light and unreasonably punishments) meted to such culprits.

Image courtesy http://eaaaca.org via google images

 

THE GAME CHANGERS

To win the heart of Nigerians in the forthcoming polls in two years, it is imperative for the present government to assiduously effect two stern policies, policies that are not just about being headliners across all media platforms but a reality, long yearned for by Nigerians at home and in the Diaspora.

These two policy framework, the GAME CHANGERS are:

1.         Achieving an uninterrupted power supply and

2.         Having a stern frown at corruption, which would be measured by the quality of justice meted, the nature of punishments to be "enjoyed" by the offenders as a reward for stealing the monies of 150 million people and the consistency with which such culprits are immediately brought to book whenever they are found wanting of perpetuating acts of financial crime.

Among the remarkably words mentioned by the President during his inaugural speech is "We must grow the economy, create jobs, and generate enduring happiness for our people. I have great confidence in the ability of Nigerians to transform this country.  The urgent task of my administration is to provide a suitable environment, for productive activities to flourish."

These words majorly speak to the first point, as the incessant power failure has hugely been a handicap to the creation of a conducive productive environment expedient to efficiently empower Nigerians to the economic recovery and spur of the nation.

The days of lip serving government is fast fading away, as a GAME CHANGER is all Nigerians want as these series of corruption episodes exudes one thing, Nigeria is indeed rich and it is high time the resources is on the widespread as against being confined to the gluttonous few elected/appointed government official whom disrespect public office with no shame but pride as indicated in the words  "In the days ahead, those of us that you have elected to serve must show that we are men and women with the patriotism and passion, to match the hopes and aspirations of you, the great people of this country.  We must demonstrate the leadership, statesmanship, vision, capacity, and sacrifice, to transform our nation. We must strengthen common grounds, develop new areas of understanding and collaboration, and seek fresh ideas that will enrich our national consensus" during the swearing-in of President Jonathan in 2011.

The President Goodluck Jonathan's administration having a firm hold on corruption would be defined by the 2 BMWs at $1.6million episode, starring Princess Stell Oduah, being the final of the vast seasonal and mega corruption series that have in the last two years (since 2011) dishonourably brought the administration under scrutiny by millions of Nigerians, in addition to the wasteful and appalling expenses by the administration. For example, in an article dubbed "A President's fleeting fancy", published in The Punch Newpapers (Nigeria), disclosed that "With 10 aircraft from five different brands, maintained annually at an estimated cost of N9.08bn, Nigeria’s Presidential Air Fleet is one of the largest in the world.

Ironically, the country grapples with economic issues not limited to the widespread poverty, developmental challenges, very poor power supply levels,  various levels and degrees of criminal activities; ranging from Kidnapping, armed robbery, fraud/scam, ritual activities to mention the least (obviously the resultant effect of a bleeding economy) and lastly, an embarrassing struggle to regularly pay its military and civilian pensioners, not forgetting long awaited upgrade of the education and health standards in the country.

The administration has less than two years to exude its zero tolerance on corruption, an instrumental stance in the ruling party's (PDP) victory at the polls in a free and fair election, come 2015.

POLICE CHECKPOINTS IN NIGERIA: Mitigating the excesses by the Men in Black

Thought provoking prompts:

At every single point in time, the sight of the Nigeria Police on the roads should at every point in time usher in a feel of relief, peacefulness and the assurance that one's life and properties are well protected.

But incidentally, the contrary is what obtains a number of times in Nigeria, with many ultimately calling for the absence of police checkpoints on the road.

The reason for this is due to the many abuse of such call on duty by the Men in Black (Not Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones in the movie) comprising the bribery and extortion of motorists, notably the public transport operators; the shooting of innocent people and the unprofessional approach to pulling over vehicles or causing traffic jams and at times, accidents in a bid to arrest erring motorists.

These cases too many, some of which would be highlighted in the course of this work is the basis for this article.

On this note, the police checkpoint, a tool long employed by the Nigeria Police Force to combat and control the flow of crime across the board is one widely considered to be inefficient, as it has been employed as a chameleon to them (the police) committing crime as mentioned earlier.

No wonder the cancellation of the checkpoints in March 2012 by the Inspector General (I.G) of Police, Mr Mohammed Abubakar, then in acting capacity, was greeted with relief by many.  The then disclosure (in 2012) by the I.G. that the removal of the police checkpoints had saved Nigerians about 6.43tn comprising police extortion, losses and time management only brings to conclusion that the road blockage in itself was an inefficient tool to combating crime in the country. 

 <http://nigerianewsday.com/news-a-commentary/security-a-police-reform/660-road-block-removal-ends-police-corruption>

In his words, the I. G said “Even when the checkpoints were in place, how many kidnappers did they stop? How many vehicles or persons involved in smuggling of arms and ammunition or robbery on these roads did they stop? Rather, what they were doing was tarnishing the image of the police by involving themselves in embarrassing acts.”

Obviously, these image tarnishing acts entail bribery and extra judicial killings which I believe can be checked, after all one does not fight crime by running away from it but confronting it with rigid and ugly measures.

But interestingly, in a bid to avoid these image tarnishing vices via the cancellation of the checkpoints, what comes to mind are the more efficient substitute in place to combat the free flow of crime on the road.

Fine the I.G mentioned the employment of many patrol vehicles and a strengthened communication amongst the police personnel but what I opine must first come to mind before its cancellation are

·         every country has different approaches to committing crime, dependent on its crime history, size, capacity and nature of crime regularly committed;

·         the availability of social amenities like good road networks;

·         the availability of modern technology, notably the Closed Circuit Television (CCTV), which is a nitty gritty and substitute to putting away the Men in Black from the roads, as it aid the tracking of human and vehicular movements within the coverage of its strategic placement; and

·         the regularity of patrol by the squad cars and vans, which in itself is very cost intensive in the long run.

The absence of one or all of these is a NO to stopping the checkpoints, as it would put crime on a rise.

From the aforesaid, it is not surprising that the cancellation of the checkpoints was a sojourn call, as the Men in Black are back on the streets. 

The image on the right makes one statement, the Return of the Men in Black to the checkpoints

Too many incidents with unanswered questions:

Notable examples which have long brought to mess the existence of police checkpoints include the killing of one Emmanuel Victor, a 20-year-old young adult at a checkpoint in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State on October 16, 2011, for allegedly condemning the extortion and bribery at the checkpoint by three policemen on duty < http://www.punchng.com/news/bayelsa-checkpoint-killing-parents-sue-police-for-n200m/>

Other stories include the painful killing on June 13, 2013 of nine year old Timilehin Ebun by some policemen while trying to extort money from a commercial bus whom in a bid to evade giving the Men in Black money (a bribe), had them opening fire on him, which sadly was a stray shot that pierced through the Ebun family’s SUV, killing the young Timilehim, with other family members inside the vehicle. < http://www.punchng.com/news/police-stole-our-joy-father-of-slain-boy/>.

Not forgetting the 2009 killing of a three year old girl, Kasufara Muritala, also at a checkpoint by former police corporal, Ikechukwu Nwabueze < http://www.punchng.com/news/court-sentences-police-corporal-to-death-for-killing-three-year-old-girl/>; the fatal accident caused by some policemen while trying to arrest a commercial motorcyclists, aka Okada, for driving against traffic <http://www.punchng.com/news/container-truck-crushes-man-govt-meat-van/> and drawing the curtain to these painful losses and disregard for human life is the September 20, 2012 killing of Ugochukwu Ozuah, barely five days after his wedding. Ozuah was killed while dropping his friend whom paid him a courtesy visit off < http://www.punchng.com/news/police-accused-of-killing-man-five-days-after-wedding/>. Sadly in this case, like many others, in a bid to save face, the police denied responsibility of a handful of these killing, owing it to armed robbers. Sadly, the list is endless.

These stories cited are too many incidents with many unanswered questions, questions that are only answered by a better equipped, oriented and high frequency in there-facing of the Nigeria police



 

An image of a “raised eyebrow” police checkpoint in Nigeria which is unnecessarily crowded with cops. Having 6 cops on car indeed makes the checkpoints congested.

 

 

 

  A better organised checkpoint with a cop per car during routine check.

Checking trigger happiness and other excesses by the Nigeria Police:

In checking the trigger happiness by the cops, so much have to be done which should be well monitored by not just the cops but the public, as the public are in the best position to have a fair check, as against the police, whom are known to cover-up.

First of all, there is need for the police to regularly orientate and re-orientate its personnel on what to consider, with respect to positioning, and location before pulling vehicles over. This is pivotal preventing avoidable accidents or gridlocks.

Secondly, there is need for the police to call the attention of the public on its check points locations across the federation. This would be achieved through the social media and e-
platforms, especially twitter. This serves the advantage of putting the public better informed  on legal checkpoints, thus identifying the illegal ones which are most times planted by armed robbers.

Also, through regular adverts and campaign across the various media networks (print, electronic, social and e-media), as this would have the public better aware on the need to pull over or obey the police whenever such call arise because some motorists are fond of flouting in this respect, not parking when asked to by being motionless on the road.

Thirdly and very importantly, the police should keep the public informed on the the need to pull over on checkpoints as against fleeing such checks. On this note, huge sanctions should be metted to such individuals and the police should keep the public informed of such fines.

Regular communication with the public of checkpoints location and re-orientation of the police achieves:

·         A drop in fear that such checkpoint could be planted by armed robbers. This is due to the fact that many citizens have falling victim to feigned checkpoint planted by armed robbers,  whom while being a chameleon in checking cars, carry out their evil acts;

·         On the flip, the encouragement of the public to keep the police informed of illegal police checkpoints or any deemed strange to them which is not included in the lists provided by the police.    

·         Keeping the police more conscious to be professional and not aggressive in the discharge of their duties because they are known to be very rude and harsh which does not speak well for them. And it will have them closely monitored by the public.  

On  a fourth note, every police formation and area should be held accountable for checkpoints planted within its jurisdiction. The advantage this serves is that whenever cases of extra judicial killings arise, the area or formation where such killings arise would be held accountable, averting the frequency of denials exuded by the police, as everyone would know where to point a finger at.

More so, whenever there is a change in checkpoint location, the public should be informed. The employ of the social media would no doubt be a speedy approach to achieving this. 

Still on the social media, each police formation in every state should be mandated to independently have its social media page/platform, precisely twitter for the public to follow in order to be promptly and regularly informed of the activities by the police. No questioning one thing, this singular act would on a wide scale keep the public better abreast with the activities of the police, draw the police closer to the people with its efficiency ultimately achieved and the truly being the friend of the public. 

Most importantly is the encouragement to the police for giving their lives to fight crime. They are widely known to be poorly paid and the effectiveness of take home pay in relation to ones job is expedient to achieve the required drive of one to perform, especially when it is a job with one putting one’s life on the line. 

In achieving an efficient police checkpoint, it is imperative for the police to have an effective checkpoint to checkpoint communication to discourage vehicles from fleeing when asked to stop, as they would have it on the back of their minds that resisting a check is a waste of time, after all they would be caught by subsequent checkpoints. 

No doubt, the strategic placements of these checkpoints is very very imperative.

With the April 16, 2013 report by the Punch, Nigeria < http://www.punchng.com/news/reps-probe-police-extra-judicial-killings/> on the call by the Nigerian lower legislative chamber, House of Representative’ directive of an investigation into rising cases of extra-judicial killings by the police, the points noted in this article would greatly contribute in making the extra judicial killing a thing of the past, as anyone could be a victim, you just never can tell until it happens.