Written by U.S Immigration News Thursday, 07 March 2013 22:54
An Ivorian doused himself with fuel and set himself on fire at Rome’s Fiumicino airport after
showing officials a deportation order, police said.
The incident occurred in a customs police office at the Terminal 3 of the airport, Italy’s largest.
Police said the man had poured a canister of fuel over himself and ignited it with a lighter. The
man was taken to the hospital in serious condition while a policeman who put out the flames
sustained some level of burn to his arm.
The smoke caused alarm among travelers and a small part of the airport was briefly closed off.
No other injuries or disruption were reported.
AFRICAN STUDENTS ABROAD RETURNING HOME FOR FAST CAREER GROWTH.
In order to grow their economies, nations across Africa have long been trying to figure out how
to stop brain drain. The best and brightest African students schooling in the
United States and the United Kingdom have no plan to return with their talents to Africa.
But recent studies indicate that brain drain may finally be coming to an end. Many African
students studying abroad now findopportunities to use their training back at home.
With seven of the world’s ten fastest economies in Africa, young people are noticing that their
homes may be the place where they have the best chance of quickly establishing a career.
Though Reda Merdi, 19, of Morocco, is heading to the University of Pennsylvania in the fall
after finishing up at the African Leadership Academy in Johannesburg, he has no plans to stay in
the United States when he has completed his education.
“It is more exciting to work in Africa these days,” he told Voice of America. “There are way
more opportunities, a lot of space for you to work, a lot of space to prove yourself. Also
because there are a lot of exciting things happening on the African continent.”
The African Leadership Academy was created to train the next generation of leaders on the
continent, admitting just 3% of its applicants with the goal of convincing them to use their
talents at home.
“Our raw philosophy is that the main reason why people should come back to Africa is not out
of any sense of obligation , or because we are forcing them to, but because they really see the
tremendous opportunities that exist here for them. And because they see a wonderful future
and a real opportunity for them to make a difference,” said Fred Swaniker, one of the
academy’s founders.
“If you think like an entrepreneur then Africa is really your paradise. You can really be the next
African Bill Gates or Steve Jobs. No one has done that yet. You can be that person,” Swaniker
said.
The numbers show the continent’s transformation in the past few years. Whereas Nigeria was
ranked 112 in the world in 2008 for retaining educated workers, it is now ranked 48th. South
Africa moved from 72nd place to 48th place in world rankings, while Ghana rose from 125th
To the 53rd place.
When the Johannesburg private equity firm Jacana surveyed African students pursuing master
of Business Administration degrees at leading American and European schools, they found that
70% planned to return to Africa after graduation.
Olakunle O. Bolarinwa,
Is a Nightline Family Member Of The Voice Of America {VOA}.
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