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Nigeria committed to integration of African continent – Keyamo

 

 

The Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, (5th right), in a group photograph with a delegation of African Union Labour Migration Advisory Committee, led by Dr Alves D’Almada (4th right), in Abuja

 

 

Nigeria committed to integration of African continent- Keyamo

Integration

By Tosin Kolade

Abuja, Oct. 24, 2019 (NAN) The Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Dr Festus Keyamo, has said that Nigeria is committed to the integration of the African continent and the promotion of trade, movement of persons, goods and services and infrastructural development.

Keyamo disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja, when he received a delegation of the African Union (AU), Labour Migration Advisory Committee, led by Dr. Alves D’Almada.

He said that Nigeria would always be in support of African integration “but not at the detriment of the laws of individual sovereign States in the continent”.

“African integration should benefit all countries; it should be symbiotic not parasitic; it should not be a relationship that one country will benefit at the detriment of another,” he added.

He observed that the issue of irregular migration to Europe and other non-African countries had constituted a big problem in Africa, and urged the continent’s leaders to tackle the trend.

“We need to encourage total African integration to stop migration through illegal means,” he advised.

The minister pledged Nigeria’s readiness to assist in legislation and policy to support the committee in promoting African integration.

Earlier, the leader of the delegation, Dr Alves D’Almada, had said that the visit was to explore ways of collaboration between the committee and Nigeria’s government to further promote African integration.

He listed areas of collaboration to include job creation, managing migration issues, promoting free movement of goods and services, and addressing the issue of visa-on-arrival in the continent.

D’Almada requested the assistance of the ministry toward hastening the process of ratification and domestication of laws that concern free movement of persons, goods and services.

He commended the Nigerian government on the successful negotiation of a new National Minimum Wage for its workers. (NAN)

TAK/ETS
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Economy

Jobs: District Head harps on rural-urban migration

Development: District Head harps on rural-urban migration

By Awayi Kuje
Jobs
Akun (Nasarawa State), Oct. 24, 2019 (NAN) The District Head of Wakama in Nasarawa State, Mr Makka Nangba, says good road and other infrastructure in rural areas can tackle rural-urban migration and create job opportunities.
Nangba stated this on Thursday at Wakama while fielding questions from the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the challenges of rural development and the nature of roads in his domain.
The traditional ruler said that provision of infrastructure would also boost the socio-economic activities and standard of living of rural dwellers.
He said that if communities had good roads, hospitals, electricity and schools among other infrastructures, it would go a long way in generate employment opportunities thereby curtailing social vices.
Nangba, who is a former secretary of Nasarawa Eggon Local Government Council, appealed to the state government to assist the community by constructing roads and culverts to open up the area.
“I want to commend the state government for being up and doing in providing the much needed dividends of democracy to the people of the state.
“I want to use this medium to appeal to the state government to assist the people of my domain by constructing roads and culverts at Alashe, Ezhiba, Angwan Sabo, Azikili and Awogenshen.
“I also appeal to the government to link Wakama District with Evah/Washo, Ogba Districts and Akwanga/Keffi/Abuja Express Road.
“This is to reduce the plight of the people plying the roads as it will also go a long way in boosting the agricultural and socio-economic activities of my people.
“As the development of rural communities will go a long way in tackling rural-urban migration, generate employment opportunities and improve economy,” he said.
Nangba also urged parents to take the education of their children with seriousness considering the importance of education to societal development.
He added that no nation could achieve meaningful progress without sound education, hence the need of his call in that direction.
The district head called on the people of his domain and the state to support government policies and programmes in order to enjoy more dividends of democracy.
Besides, he enjoined his subjects and Nigerians to live in peace, tolerate one another, respect constituted authorities for development to thrive. (NAN)
AKW/IAA/MST
Edited by Isaac Aregbesola/Muhammad Suleiman Tola

Health

Irregular Migration: NGO develops 30-yrs development plan for Edo youths

Irregular Migration: NGO develops 30-yrs development plan for Edo youths
Igbaugba Ehigimetor
Migration
Benin, Sept. 5, 2019 (NAN) Partnership Initiative in the Niger Delta (PIND), an NGO, says it has developed a 30-year development programme for Edo as part of initiative to assist the state to fight irregular migration.
The Advocacy and Analysis Manager of the organisation, Mr Chucks Ofolue, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Benin on Thursday.
He said that part of the plan was to train the youths on skills in order for them to be productive and generate income for themselves.
Ofolue said it was part of the development plan that saw to the training and graduation of 200 youths from the state on how to operate, install and maintain small to medium solar PV technology solutions and project management.
PIND works with the government on a macro level, the aim of the development plan, which basically centres on acquiring skills, was to curb peculiar issues relating to youths in Edo, especially irregular migration.
“As part of the programme, those trained will be matched with internship, opportunities and support their business plan,” he said.
He noted that the programme would be in batches, adding the youths will be given a starter pack to go into the business and in turn, become employers of labour in their various skills acquired.
He stressed that “the goal was to promote peace and development in the Niger Delta. We work in the states of the Niger Delta.
“We have four major works in the Niger Delta which include economic development, peace building, advocacy and analysis, and capacity building.”
On the PV technology training, he said that the essence of the training was to provide alternative measure to the problem of electricity in the country due to incessant failure of electricity providers.
According to him, light is very important to human existence and these youths have been trained to be industrious and establish their own businesses to provide solar energy for Nigerians especially in this era of incessant power failure.
“It will keep them from thinking of how to migrate and keep them busy to generate economy thereby contributing their quota to the state revenue,” said the official.
Ofulue explained that PIND foundation has a market development programme to groom the youths on marketing skills to sell their products to the people.
He said that the NGO has been at the forefront of creating and showcasing working technologies that reduce energy consumption, recycle waste and provide alternative to traditional power sources in the Niger Delta region.
PIND was established by Chevron to promote economic development and peace through partnership in the Niger Delta.
The organisation is in partnership with the Skills Development for Youth Employment (SKYE) programme, a four-year programme funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation (BMZ) and implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft Fur Internationale Zusammenarbelt (GIZ). (NAN)
ESI/NNO
Edited by Nick Nicholas/Muhammad Suleiman Tola

Foreign

Irregular migration: ECOWAS moves to increase job creation

Irregular migration: ECOWAS moves to increase job creation
By Temitope Ponle
Migration
Abuja, April 12, 2019 (NAN) ECOWAS is developing modalities to increase job creation to address illegal migration in the region, officials have said.
This formed part of discussions at the opening session of the ongoing Delocalised Meeting of a Joint Committee holding in Conakry, Guinea.
The committees include Communications and Information Technology, Education, Science and Technology, Labour, Employment, as well as Youth, Sports and Culture.
A number of irregular migrants from Africa to Europe via different migratory routes had been recorded since the peak of migration in 2014, with more deaths in the Mediterranean Sea also recorded.
Risk Analysis for 2018 concluded that the sea, especially along the Mediterranean routes, will remain the most active path for illegal crossing of the EU external borders, but also one of the most dangerous for migrants.
This is according to Relief Web, a leading humanitarian information source on global crises and disasters and a specialised digital service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Also, according to statistics from Missing Migrants Project of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), 98 deaths of migrants in Africa have been recorded since the beginning of 2019.
This is compared to 107 deaths recorded in 2018 under the period in review.
The meeting attributed one of the major causes of irregular migration of its citizens to the high rate of unemployment in the region.
The Speaker, ECOWAS Parliament, Mr Moustapha Cisse Lo, charged the members of committees to ensure that they come up with recommendations aimed at job creation.
Lo said this would be done through promoting the development of small and medium enterprises.
The speaker also said the meeting would renew the parliament’s commitment to develop strategies for economic integration.
He added that the consideration and the adoption of the draft report and recommendations of the committees would be done at the plenary session of the ECOWAS parliament meeting to be held in Nigeria in May.
Mrs Liliane Alapini, a representative of the ECOWAS Commission, said that the issues of unemployment were at the heart of the region’s integration pursuit.
Alapini said the non-implementation of policies on job creation and unemployment was also responsible for the rate of illegal migration in West Africa.
She urged the committees present to strengthen policies on small and medium enterprises in the region.
Mr Tibou Camara, the Guinean Minister of Industry and Small and Medium Enterprises, said that unemployment was “a time bomb” that must be tackled to ensure economic growth and development in the region.
Mr Ansoumane Berete, the Country Representative of United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), said that industrialisation was paramount to the eradication of poverty in the ECOWAS region.
Berete assured of UNIDO’s continued support to the skills development of young entrepreneurs through proper training.
Another representative the parliament, Mr Alpha Fischer, said the meeting would also develop modalities to facilitate vocational training of youths in the region.
“This meeting will advocate and promote skills acquisition of youths to enable them stay in their countries rather than venture into illegal migration.
“This meeting will deal with job creation and training of our youth so that they can overcome the temptation of being trapped in the Mediterranean Sea,” he said.
Fischer also said that the meeting would equip the members of parliament to play a major role in job creation and also commended UNIDO for its contribution to development in the region.
The theme for the delocalised meeting is “Job Creation in the ECOWAS region through Entrepreneurship and the Development of SMEs”. (NAN)
TOP/MST
Edited by Muhammad Suleiman Tola

Economy

70% of African migration occurs within continent – AfDB

70% of African migration occurs within continent – AfDB

By Mustapha Sumaila
Migration
Abuja, March 5, 2019 (NAN) The African Development Bank (AfDB) says 70 per cent of African migration occurred within the continent while Africans accounted for 10 per cent of the 258 million people who migrated worldwide.

Mr Aristide Ahouassou, Communications Officer of the bank, said this in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday.

Ahouassou quoted the bank’s Senior Vice-President, Charles Boamah, as making the remark during the third annual Africa Resilience Forum (ARF) in Abidjan.

Boamah explained that understanding migration was, therefore, important for the bank because it helped to provide options to support programmes that would reduce migration flows at the same time as increasing yields.

”Most of the discourse on African migration focuses on the Mediterranean, it is important to stress that general intra-African migration accounts for 70 per cent and this percentage rises to 80 per cent for sub-Saharan Africa.

”A plenary specifically dedicated to innovative solutions in the field of migration, including financial solutions, will highlight how poverty and low employment prospects become powerful drivers of migration and instability.

”This year’s theme, fragility, migration and resilience, could not be more pertinent, because we are going to focus on several issues, including the relationships between migration, humanitarian issues and security.

”Others are youth and job creation; migration and gender; and climate change and the impact on the environment,” he said.

According to him, the debates held at the forum will benefit from the new Country Resilience and Fragility Assessment (CRFA)’s tool, which uses the concept of the internal and external pressures on countries and their capacity to address these.

He said that migration challenges required bold responses, in this regard, the bank had developed tools to address that.

”The CRFA is an excellent tool to build resilience in our regional member countries and the bank is also working on migration in collaboration with the African Union, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), African civil society and African businesses,” he said.

He said that in 2011, the bank provided substantial assistance to Libyan refugees in Tunisia; in 2015, it extended its aid to refugees in Djibouti, as well as similar projects in Burundi, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal and Zimbabwe.

He disclosed that the bank had also launched the ”Jobs for Youth in Africa” programme, which offers young Africans employment, particularly in the agricultural sector, and to prevent youth from succumbing to the temptations of migration.

He said that more than 400 participants from around the world were taking part in the forum, which would propose concrete actions to address the challenges posed by migration and to help build resilience within the 21 African countries classed as fragile. (NAN)
MS/FF/MST
Edited by Fela Fashoro/Muhammad Suleiman Tola

Health

Illegal migration: Caritas Nigeria seeks collaboration with stakeholders

Illegal migration: Caritas Nigeria seeks collaboration with stakeholders
NAN-HG-54
Trafficking
By Olasunkanmi Onifade
Abuja, Feb. 6, 2018 (NAN) Caritas Nigeria, an NGO, has called for strong collaboration among stakeholders to reduce increasing rate of illegal migration, human trafficking and brain drain in the country.
Rev. Evaristus Bassey told newsmen at the occasion of Saint Bakhita Day against the trafficking in persons in Abuja.
“Many Non-governmental Organisations (NGOs) formed by religious groups have enormous capacity for project management and for transformative initiatives.
“In many parts of the world, government has partnered with faith based organisations because they are closer to the grassroots,” he said.
Bassey said there should be effort to cultivate these groups and fund them to engage youths in life skills such as building, household economic strengthening, and provision and management of facilities.
Other areas are health, education, water, sanitation and hygiene in rural areas.
He however suggested that government should get funds from people through an adjustment of the Value Added Tax (VAT).
“Nigeria’s current VAT rate is five per cent, and is one of the lowest in the world.
“Government can make an adjustment to 7.5 per cent and 2.5 differential in special fund for the exclusive use of NGOs especially faith based organisation.
“This will be one solid way in which government can show that it is ready for partnership with civil society organisation for purpose of development,’’ Bassey said.
According to him, each day scores of Nigerians attempt to travel out illegally some end up as carcasses in the desert or in the belly of the ocean.
Bassey advocated for collaboration with civil society organisations especially faith based organisations and development institutions.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that every year Caritas Nigeria and the entire Catholic Church celebrate Saint Bakhita Day.
NAN also reports that Saint Bakhita was a Sudanese girl captured and sent into slavery, and eventually set free and brought to Italy where she became a nun.
She lived a life of devotion that inspired others and also patron of all trafficked women. (NAN)
OEO/GOM/MST
Edited by Gregory Mmaduakolam/Muhammad Suleiman Tola