FG, German government partner to tackle illegal migration, commission centre

By AKOR SYLVESTER-Abuja

The federal government and the German government have strengthened collaboration to address the issue of illegal migration in the country.

Part of the strategies to tackle the rising cases of illegal migration was the setting up of the Migrant Resource Centre to serve as a guide and counselling house.

Speaking at the Commissioning of the new Migrant Resource Centre (MRC) at Ado in Karu Local Government Area of Nassarawa State yesterday, the minister of Labour and Employment, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha said the centre established and being currently implemented by the  German Development Cooporation (Giz) in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment in Nigeria, is aimed at grooming the youth for employment and encourage legal and regular migration in the country.

Nyejeocha said the occasion also was an opportunity to showcase the achievements recorded over the years of the collaboration between Nigeria and Germany, while commending German government for the establishment of Nigerian- German Centre for Migration (NGC) in collaboration with the ministry, within the framework of partnership agreement signed between GIZ and Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment.

She urged Nigerian youth to ultilises the opportunity in their search for jobs, saying that the ministry was not created to resolve labour disputes alone but to also create job opportunities for the people.

The Minister further disclosed that Nigeria’s partnership with Germany and GIZ had yielded significant achievements including the review and validation of the National Policy on Labour Migration 2014; awareness creation on the dangers of irregular migration: implementation of employment promotion activities such as monthly Career Path/Employability trainings for job seekers: guidance and counselling for potential and returnee migrants.

The achievements also include organizing job fairs and employment promotion conferences: internship placements: business registrations: career information day, entrepreneurship training and business start-up support. social and economic reintegration of return migrants, outreach and sensitization programmes, amongst others.

Onyejeocha also disclosed that from the inception of the programme in 2018 till date, 320,000 beneficiaries had been provided with individual support measures, 37,600 placed in employment, 53,300 provided with business start-ups while 87,445 beneficiaries were provided with education and qualification measures.

She added that 63,500 individual counselling had been provided, while 9.750 beneficiaries had been provided with psychosocial support.

The Minister expressed appreciation to the German government and GIZ for the generous financial and technical support to the Migrant Resource Centres (MRCs), and  reassured them of the federal government’s continuous commitment to the partnership and the successful implementation of the ZME project in Nigeria.

The German Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Ms. Svenja Schulze, stated that focus of the cooperation between the Nigerian and the German governments is on making migration successful for the migrants, for Nigeria, and for Germany.

According to her, this is by “creating opportunities for Nigerians who are looking for jobs, opportunities for the Nigerian labour market, which cannot currently satisfy the growing demand and which benefits from the expertise Nigerians gain abroad, and opportunities for German companies to find skilled, experienced workers to fill their vacancies.”

She said that the centres are integrated into the existing structure of services around migration and employment offered by the Nigerian Federal Ministry for Labour and Employment, adding that they also serve to provide information about work and training opportunities in Nigeria, in the wider region and in Germany.

“People who are returning from Europe can get support here in starting their new lives; and people who are thinking about working abroad can learn about the options for legal migration to Germany.”

In his remarks, the Deputy Governor of Nasarawa State, Dr Emmanuel Akabe, noted that the commissioning of the Migrant Resource Centre aligned with the resolve of the present administration, both at the federal and state levels, to address the menace of illegal migration, as the Centre would offer regular migration advice, employability training, career counselling and other services in line with its mandate.