The federal government has been tasked on the need to protect Nigerians abroad as a means of ensuring sustainable national development.
Some Civil Society Organisations (CSO) made the call in a 10-point strategy recommended for the sustainability of migration programmes in Nigeria at the 2021 Civil Society Day (CSD) of the National Migration Dialogue with the theme: “Human Mobility in the Context of Sustainable National Development”, held in Abuja.
Presenting the recommendations of the CSOs at the end of the two-day event Friday, the Chair of the CSD, Osato Mary Igbinosun, said there was no question as to whether or not Nigerians could exercise their basic rights.
Igbinosun said, “To achieve this, protection of the rights of Nigerian nationals abroad, trust building among these countries are necessary. This can be achieved with improved consular activities.”
She, therefore, urged the government to also take ownership of migration activities by ensuring a deliberate action in allocating budget to relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of government involved in migration.
The CSOs also urged the government to include the private sector in migration management and also increase collaboration between MDAs and CSOs.
In her opening remarks, the Commissioner for National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons, Hajiya Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, attributed the effort of the government in addressing irregular migration and building on migration to the partnership between the Nigerian government and international partners including the European Union, International Organisation for Migration, the Swiss government, who were all present or represented at the event, and other development partners.
She said the dialogue would enable all stakeholders to assess and plan ahead of 2022 by coming up with ideas for strengthening migration management in Nigeria.
Awards were also presented to deserving international development partners and foreign governments for their efforts at managing migration in Nigeria.
The event was funded by the European Union with supports from other partners.
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