WorldStage Newsonline– The Federal Government says it has mapped out strategies to drastically reduce migration of professionals and skilled workers from the country.
The Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Dr Yusuf Sununu, said this on Tuesday in Abuja at the 2025 Annual International Conference on Migration.
The conference with the theme, “Migration and Sustainable Development: Problem and Prospects” was organised by Centre of Excellence in Migration and Global Studies, National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN).
“The conference is a wakeup call since migration has its own consequences; we must work as a nation to benefit maximally from the positive impact of migration,” he said.
Sununu said that the Ministry of Education and Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TetFund) were already partnering with local and international universities, through transactional education, to reduce the migration of professionals out of the country, especially in the healthcare sector.
“Migration can serve as employment opportunities.
“Family separation is one of the consequences of migration, but the major challenge is the migration of our skilled professionals,” the minister said.
He said that efforts would also be geared towards providing the dividend of democracy to citizens to discourage them from leaving the country.
Prof. Olufemi Peters, Vice Chancellor of NOUN, said that irregular migration had necessitated the exploitation of migrants.
“Migration is a phenomenon that has shaped human societies for millennia.
“It is a deeply complex issue, often driven by factors such as conflict, economic disparities, environmental changes and political instability.
“The global population’s movement, whether voluntary or forced, continues to redefine borders, disrupt local economies and create new demographic realities.
“In many instances, migration has brought both tremendous benefits and formidable challenges to countries, communities and individuals.
“While migration can enhance economic growth, cultural exchange and innovation, it also presents significant problems that even if it was ignored before, the existential nature of it now stares us in the face.
“The opportunity before us is to create a future in which migration is not seen as a threat, but as a potential driver of innovation, growth and progress,” Peters said.
He said that the key to addressing the challenges of migration depended on addressing the reasons people leave the country.
Also, Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Nigerians in the Diaspora Commission, said that ignorance had made a lot of people migrate in dangerous ways.
“Japa is not a bad thing, but why are some people doing it dangerously?
“At the end of the day, where you are running to is worse than what you are running from.
“Irregular migration is the bad side of migration. Awareness and sensitisation is important to prevent the next person that wants to indulge in irregular migration from doing so.
“The positive side of migration is that seven or eight players that played in the American Super Bowl are Nigerians.
“Nigerian doctors abroad are coming home to build hospitals; the best stroke hospital is in Imo State, and I have seen someone from abroad come to take treatment there,” Dabiri-Erewa said.
She added that the government would do everything possible to ensure safe pathways for migration.
Ms Paola Pace, Chief of Mission to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, International Organisation for Migration (IOM), said the organisation would continue to support Nigeria in the fight against irregular migration.
“Migrants have their rights and we will continue to offer our support where necessary.
“We have done that to Nigerian migrants returnees from Edo, we have also supported some from the Philippines, here in Nigeria and will not stop,” Pace said.
Also speaking, Executive Secretary, Tertiary Education Trust Fund, Sonny Echono, said his office would continue to support programmes aimed at discouraging irregular migration.
Echono said that NOUN had proved to be a worthy partner in this direction and that TetFund would always collaborate with the University’s Centre of Excellence in Migration and Global Studies.
Earlier, Prof. Gloria Anetor, Director, Centre of Excellence in Migration and Global Studies, NOUN, said the essence of the conference was to brainstorm on possible solutions to irregular migration.
Anetor said NOUN was already collaborating with a University in Austria, to address migration challenges in Africa and beyond.
“Employment opportunities are the main reason people migrate. Regular migration is the only best way to migrate, as irregular migration is illegal,” she said.
Dignitaries in attendance at the conference included former VCs of NOUN, Prof. Vincent Tenebe and Prof. Abdallah Adamu as well as the former Executive Secretary of TetFund, Prof. Suleiman Bogoro.
