LABOUR MIGRATION: FG Commissions MIGRANT Resource Centre
Oru Leonard
The Federal Government of Nigeria has commissioned its newest Migrant Resource Centre (MRC), established to promote regular labour migration in Nigeria.
Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, who commissioned the project alongside Germany’s Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Ms. Svenja Schulze, described the occasion as a milestone in the partnership and collaboration between the two countries.
According to Onyejeocha, the MRC, located in New Karu, Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, the fourth in the series set up by the Ministry of Labour and Employment, was established with the technical and financial support of German Development Cooperation (GIZ) within the framework of the Centre for Migration and Development ZME Project.
She emphasised the important role of MRC in the promotion of safe, orderly and regular labour migration pathways to Germany and other European countries, as well as employment generation activities for the teeming Nigerian youths.
Onyejeocha also stated Nigeria’s desire for the deepening of partnership between Nigeria and Germany by promoting labour exchange through Bilateral Labour Migration Agreements (BLMAs) or Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to further encourage regular labour migration pathways for the benefit of the two countries.
“In this regard, due consideration should be given to the establishment of new MRCs in the South-East (Enugu), North West (Kano), South-West (lbadan), North-Central (Benue) and North-East (Bauchi) geopolitical zones of Nigeria respectively,” she said.
The Minister 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, and 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 returned migrants, and outreach and sensitization programmes.
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.
(FMoL Press)
