The restriction of movement and initiation of nationwide lockdown in different parts of the world is one of the most insane things that happened during COVID-19. That era was tough and rough and going through that experience opened people's eyes to what could happen if Intercultural Exchange didn't exist in the entire world.
Importation was put to a stop. Exportation of stuff became impossible. All sorts of migration were also halted and you wouldn't believe that so many people didn't even notice this. I was in the Northern part of Nigeria when all these were going on and when I had a discussion with learned colleagues who were also Bankers at that time, I was very surprised that they were not aware of the sort of damage that level of restriction could cause.
For someone like myself who at that time was already working towards saving up to get an international Passport and looking into international opportunities, things related to International borders were always on my raider. I did a couple of research and the outcome showed that having an International Passport and even getting dual citizenship isn't a bad idea. That could be a life-changing decision sometime in the future.
So, when the lockdown came, I knew the countries that were serious about this and the countries that didn't trouble their citizens with any sort of lockdown. At that point, I already had a couple of International friends who I enjoyed discussing with and we got to exchange so much information by just having discussions about what was going on in our part of the world. I learned so much more about the facts from these folks than from what was announced as Breaking News in those parts of the world.
People who didn't see the danger in having everyone locked into their own border were suggesting that the government should put an end to immigration. They didn't want people to travel into their part of the world and it's still a surprise that such Agenda is still getting discussed in this day and time.
Well, imagine a world where Asians, Africans, Americans, and Europeans are no longer allowed to step out of their border.
Imagine how screwed Intercultural Exchange would be in such situations. Do that long enough and we will find ourselves in situations where Americans won't be able to stand Germans and Koreans won't be able to stand Indians. If that happens, each set of people would only be able to tolerate those that are from their region/community or ethnic group. These are the things that led to war years ago.
I want to be able to tolerate people from another part of the world and I've been able to learn so much about that by having a group of people from different ethnic groups and different parts of the world with whom I interact regardless of differences that exist within each of our borders. I was also able to get my International Passport at some point after the COVID-19 lockdown.
For the record, this doesn't mean that I'm against International Borders.
Having borders is a great idea otherwise, we will end up in situations where everyone gets tangled up in chaos. Anyone who's saying that there shouldn't be international borders is either trying to instigate chaos or the person is yet to realize that having a borderless world will produce chaos. So, I'm all about borders and I understand the reason why there should be a limit on migration. However, we need to figure out what those limits are.
When someone is likely to contribute to the success of a country and the person has the funds to migrate to a country and sustain his/her stay in the country, it should be doable. The number of Chinese and Indians that are thriving in America and the UK is a good example of that. This subsequently leads to Intercultural Exchange and that's what leads to moments like now where some folks who have never been to Asia prefer to go to a Chinese restaurant for a date. Haha.
Interesting, right?
Thanks For Not Missing Any Full-stop or Comma.
Thumbnail Image is taken from Unsplash
Additional Image is mine, taken with my phone camera.
This is my entry to today's prompt on #aprilinleo monthly prompt. Feel free to check out the post and explore their prompt.