The Journalists International Forum For Migration (JIFORM) in Nigeria has met with both national and international stakeholders to tackle the menace of lingering human trafficking and irregular migrations in the country.
JIFORM President, Dr Ajibola Abayomi, in his remarks yesterday in Lagos said  the conference was aimed at finding lasting solutions to human trafficking and irregular migrations.
“Necessity is the mother of invention; in Nigeria and as Nigerians, we cannot continue to live in the denial as huge number of our citizens are being lured and sold into slavery.
“These are done at intervals through irregular migration and human trafficking whether they are victims of deceit or they are desperate to seek greener pasture abroad certainly.
“At the same time, all these efforts are also geared towards encouraging journalists to stay focused on migration issues that shape the global space.
“One thing is certain about Nigeria; whatever the situation is for now, it will definitely become history tomorrow and this nation shall be better for it,” he said.
According to him, both the government and leaders at different levels of our community must come together to address factors fuelling the migration menaces in our dear country.
He said, “We must be bothered about “Japa” syndrome, a lexicon that many Nigerian youths embrace out of ignorance.
Abayomi said when you ‘japa’, you put yourself and your future at  a disadvantage.
The JIFORM President said without fear of contradiction, the best way to reap the reward of migration in advanced countries or anywhere was when purposefully and legally planned for the journey.
“Our migration policies should confer more dignity on Nigerians instead of stating the obvious on the paper alone.
“There should be more political will to create an enabling environment to address the pull and push factors encouraging irregular migration,” he added.
Professor Fatima Waziri-Azi, the Director General, of NAPTIP, in her remarks said migration from one place to another was a right of everyone.
According to her, migration as we all know is a right and when well used/practiced, is a key factor in the development of societies.
“As people move, they take their skills and knowledge from their points/countries of origin to countries of destination.
“You will also agree with me that diaspora remittance is one of Nigeria’s sources of foreign exchange. However, this win-win situation can only be achieved through regular, well planned and safe migration.
“This brings us to the crux of the matter, the missing link – irregular migration. These missing links include: The desperation of or ignorance of many Nigerian migrants which has led them to exploring irregular migration paths.

“This render them vulnerable and easy prey for human trafficking, smuggling of migrants and various forms of exploitation,” she said.

She added that the narratives out there that vilified migrants and portrayed them as a burden on destination countries rather than assets was part of the factors.

The DG said that the belief that opportunities only existed outside the country (the grass is greener elsewhere) on the part of the traffickers made the vulnerable be exploited and denied their basic rights ignoring the provisions of the law.

“A common tread that runs through these missing links is “ignorance”.

“That is why NAPTIP is glad to collaborate with the media in tackling ignorance as a major factor facilitating the continuous proliferation of human trafficking and irregular migration,” she added.

The Chairman of the Nigerians In Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa,  said, in her contributions, that the country spent much money in evacuating its citizens from other countries.

Dabiri-Erewa, who was represented by Mr Rahman Balogun, said that what some of nationals were doing in other countries were bad.

According to him, thousands of irregular migrants have been evacuated from Libya in the recent time.

“Recently, we received some of them at the airport and during our interrogations with them we discovered no one of them had travelling passport.

“We advise parents and the larger society to reduce the way they pressurise their children to seek greener pastures abroad for survival.

A Representative of The Nigerian-German Center for Jobs, Migration and Reintegration, Mrs Sandra Alonge,  in her remarks, thanked JIFORM for putting the summit together to engage issues related to migration among the stakeholders.

“Through this summit, together we can engage in issues related to migration, at a national level and among important stakeholders.

“There, we can work on this hot topic, not just in Nigeria, but around the world. For many, to JAPA, is the ultimate dream,” Alonge said.

She, however, said irregular migration continues put young Nigerians at risk of losing their lives with no guarantees for a better future at the end of the tunnel.

Prof. Layi Esho, of Department of Mass Communication, Ogun State Polytechnic, said most of the experience came from the media who focused on various migration channels.

“We need to focus our attention on media in this summit to combat the irregular migrations.

Also we need to look into the public policy and issues that encourage the intending migrants because it has become a major problem as it involve large number of people.

“We should also focus on the route the victims take, the people who lure them to it and individual decision from regular migrants to irregular after expiration of Visa ie that’s abuse of Visa,” Esho said.

According to him, we read a lot of narratives about their maltreatment and job experience out there.