The National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons has sought for collaboration with the International Conference on Population Development towards initiating a policy for regular migration pathways for Nigerians.

The Federal Commissioner of the NCFRMI, Tijani Ahmed, stated this while speaking with journalists when he received a delegation from the ICMPD on a visit in Abuja on Wednesday.

Mr Ahmed explained that having softened policy for regular migration pathways would help Nigerian youths seeking to acquire development skills in other countries and return afterwards.

He said that Nigerian national and state universities were working on a “centre of excellence on migration” while calling for the support of ICMPD and other international organisations towards the success and development of Nigeria.

He said the meeting became necessary particularly as the “Japa movement” increased, where many youth travel out of the country through irregular means.

“We also want to see that our youth have the access through legal means to go out and acquire more knowledge and disseminate the knowledge back to this country. That is why one of the major issues we are going to put on the table is how to bring down some of the conditions that make the youth travel through irregular means.

“They should support us, so that we can ensure that our youth benefit from the migration process through the regular means,” Mr Ahmed said.

Responding, the Director for Migration Dialogues and Cooperation of the ICMPD, Sedef Dearing, pledged the organisation’s support to Nigeria on bridging the gaps in the Nigeria migration process.

Dearing said that ICMPD as an international and intergovernmental organisation had been enjoying excellent collaboration and cooperation with the government of Nigeria, and would take it further.

“We have been working on several initiatives together and we want to take this cooperation further to the next level, that is the purpose of this visit. We need to really sit together and explore the needs, where the gaps are, and how we as an organisation can work together to address those gaps.

“As the national commissioner has mentioned, one of the priorities for us is to support the efforts of the Nigerian government in developing legal pathways. We will promote legal pathways for migration, especially for the Nigerian youths, working together on skills development and skills accreditation. Also, if possible, support reintegration efforts when migrants come back to Nigeria,” she added.

(NAN)