On 8 July 2019, the ABI organised an event in Abuja/Nigeria on "Governing Migration in Nigeria - What is the Real Agenda and Whose Agenda is it?' Since 2015 Nigeria has continued to intensify efforts on migration governance. These include a National Migration Policy, a comprehensive Migration Governance Framework, the Immigration Act the Diaspora Policy, diaspora commission, and extended mandates of the National Commission for Refugees Migration and Internally displaced persons and National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking In Persons. Yet, migration is neither a political issue nor on the top of the list of priorities of the Nigerian government. If anything, the focus is on diaspora migration, which stands in contrast to a European focus on irregular migration.
The event was centred around a presentation of the research findings of Dr Kwaku Arhin-Sam from the Arnold-Bergstraesser Institut in Freiburg (Germany), who carried out research on the political dimensions of migration governance in Nigeria a, supported by the Mercator Dialogue on Asylum and Migration. There were additional talks from the German ambassador to Nigeria, Bernhard Schlagheck, and the Permanent Secretary of Youth and Sports, Adesola Olusola . There was also a panel which discussed a series of questions including: who sets the migration agenda in Nigeria? Will (and when or for what reasons) will migration ever become a political issue in Nigeria? What are the interests of the EU and EU member states when it comes to migration governance in Nigeria? How can the collaboration become more meaningful and based on an equal footing in the future? What is the role of civil society in implementing the migration agenda in Nigeria?
The panelists included Omolola S. Olarinde (Elizade Universität), Matthias Esene, Project officer at International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) and Roland Nwoha, Project Coordinator at Idia Renaissance. Amarachi Ubani, a TV news presenter and reporter, was the moderator for the event.
More than 50 participants from politics and civil society took part in the event, which is part of WAMIG, a West African migration management project, with further case studies in Gambia, Niger and Senegal. The project is funded by the Mercator Foundation through (MEDAM), a three-year research and consultation project that identifies and closes gaps in existing research and develops specific recommendations for policy makers.