Efforts are in top gear for the establishment of a Migrant Resource Centre, MRC, in Enugu, to coordinate activities around providing valuable support to returnee migrants and adequate migration information for intending migrants to promote safe and regular migration.
It was the then former Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige who in 2020, made a passionate appeal to the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) Nigeria, otherwise known as German Development Corporation, to support the establishment of an MRC in Enugu and Kano, due to their peculiar migration challenges.
Already, the German Corporation had supported the establishment and operation of MRCs in Abuja, Benin- Edo State and Lagos.
During the week, the Head of Programme, Centres for Migration and Development (ZME), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) Nigeria, GIZ-ZME, Mrs Sandra Vermuijten, had led a delegation to Enugu, to inspect the setting up of a facility proposed to be used as the MRC.
Addressing a gathering of migration stakeholders at the close of a capacity building workshop in Enugu, organized by the Civil Society Network on Migration and Development (CSOnetMADE) and GIZ, Mrs Vermuijten said after a lot of strategizing, they are in Enugu to complement efforts at supporting returning migrants and providing intending migrants with better advice and information on the opportunities.
According to her, they are looking to support the migration ecosystem in Nigeria, to ensure that the people get better skills and are better informed about what the opportunities are in the International labour market.
“We have seen that once the people get the necessary guidance, information and training that leads to certification, they are able to change their lives abroad in a matter of very short time.
“So, when we are talking about the important of our advisory services and counselling, we are talking about over 500,000 services that have been delivered with concrete results that have led to better lives for the individuals and have also made our work visible in terms of the number of policies we have supported the Nigerian Government to adopt over time, including ILO conventions,” she said.
Acknowledging that Nigeria is now considered a model in the African Union in terms of adopting best practices in the return and reintegration of returnees, however, noted that it is not yet Uhuru, as a lot still needs to be done.
“While this means that huge progress is made, it also demands strengthening of strategies, efforts, and partnerships towards breaking more positive grounds.
“We started our programme in 2023, and it will be extended till 2028. Before then, we started implementing in 2017. Over that period, a lot of impact was achieved. We have been supporting the migrant resource centres, CSOs, social partners, as well as state-level and local government authorities in three zones Abuja, Lagos and Edo.
“So, we are here to support the work in migration, helping returning migrants and providing better guidance to intending/ potential migrants.
“Building trust between government, civil society and social partners is a major factor that can help advance our collective work together. And our role at GIZ is also to facilitate that cooperation in rebuilding trust in the provision of quality migration services
“By next year, we will roll out activities in Enugu and build on the strong partnerships and some of the ideas generated by the CSOnetMADE in support of migration.
“Our success is not measured by the number of meetings we have organized, but in terms of how many people have been provided with advice and along the line, they are better off,” she quipped.
On his part, Rev. Fr. Emeka Obiezu, Director and National Coordinator of CSOnetMADE commended the critical support of GIZ-ZME to the activities of the CSOnetMADE in the country, noting that building the capacity of migration stakeholders remains a sure way to deepen safe migration information across the nooks and crannies of the country.
Obiezu observed that a viable Migration Resource Centre in the Southeast will provide a rallying point for the coordination of migration activities in the region.
According to him, the CSOnetMADE, in collaboration with partners like GIZ, is interested in making the shift that will put the Southeast Migration Governance at the map of activities nationwide.
“The realities of irregular migration specific and peculiar to the Southeast, are still imminent and are still negatively impacting migration.
“We hope that the collaboration with GIZ will strengthen the CSOs to continue to take concrete steps to address the challenges,” he said.
