The Federal Government has announced ongoing discussions to facilitate the safe and dignified return of 15,000 Nigerians currently stranded in countries such as Cameroon, Niger, Chad, and other regions across the globe.
This was disclosed by Alhaji Tijani Ahmed, the Federal Commissioner of the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI), during a media briefing held in Abuja on Friday.
Ahmed highlighted that Nigeria is currently home to over six million displaced individuals, with thousands of refugees also residing in different parts of the world.
He explained that the 15,000 Nigerians seeking to voluntarily return to their homeland, along with the approximately 100,000 foreign refugees living in Nigeria, fall under the commission’s mandate to provide necessary support and assistance.
The commissioner also commended President Bola Tinubu for his unwavering support towards the commission and the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, emphasizing the government’s continuous efforts to ensure the safe return of displaced persons.
Additionally, Ahmed announced that Nigeria would be hosting its first thematic meeting as part of its leadership in the Rabat Process, a Euro-African initiative focused on migration and development.
The event, scheduled for May 13 and 14, will bring together more than 100 delegates from 57 partner countries.
The meeting, themed “Youth, Innovation and Education: Driving the Future of Migration,” aims to foster bilateral dialogues that will improve migration governance.
Nigeria assumed the chairmanship of the Rabat Process in January 2025, and Ahmed expressed confidence that the country’s leadership in this dialogue, despite the one-year tenure, would provide valuable opportunities for knowledge exchange and better migration management.
Ahmed also discussed the challenges associated with migration management, stressing the importance of educating younger generations about legal migration pathways.
He emphasized that irregular migration often leads to perilous and illegal journeys, which result in hardship for migrants and in some cases, prevent them from returning to their home countries.
To address these challenges, Ahmed called for stronger coordination among stakeholders, including the media, to promote legal migration and ensure better migration governance.
