By Golok Nanmwa,Jos
Minister of Labour and employment Bar Simon Lalong has said the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu led administration has encapsulated a wholistic approach towards creating economic opportunities for our teeming youths within the Renewed Hope Agenda.
Lalong made this known in his speech during the visit of the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Migrant Resource Center MRC held at the Nigerian – German Center for Migration and Development in Lagos .
Lalong said ” The President has directed the roll out of several programmes including the funding of small and medium scale businesses as well as the provision of incentives and support to young entrepreneurs to establish and run businesses in Nigeria. ”
This will certainly discourage illegal migration and serve as a stimulus for returnee migrants.
Others include implementation of employment promotion activities such as, monthly Career Path/Employability trainings for job seekers; guidance and counselling for potential and returnee migrants; organization of job fair and employment promotion conferences; internship placements; business registrations; career information day, entrepreneurship training and business start-up support; social and economic reintegration of return migrants; outreach and sensitization programmes amongst others.
Worthy of note within this collaborative framework is that from inception of the programme in 2018 till date, a total of 320,000 beneficiaries have been provided with individual support measures. 37,600 beneficiaries have been placed in employment; 53,300 beneficiaries were provided with business startups while 87,445 beneficiaries were provided with education and qualification measures. Also, 63,500 individual counselling sessions have been provided while, 9,750 beneficiaries were provided with psychosocial support accordingly.
Lalong added that ” I bring to you, felicitation and goodwill from His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
” On behalf of the Federal Government and the good people of Nigeria, I am most delighted to welcome you and your esteemed delegation from the Federal Republic of German to the Nigerian–German Centre for Migration and Development (NGC) and the Migrant Resource Centre of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment located in Nigeria’s commercial capital Lagos. ”
The Minister added that ” Let me use this opportunity to sincerely acknowledge the continuous support of the German Government to Nigeria, through the German Development Cooperation (GIZ) for establishing the Nigerian – German Centre for Migration and Development in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, within the framework of the Partnership Agreement signed between GIZ and the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment under the Global Programme, Migration for Development (PME), funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.”
” To Nigeria, this event is another milestone in our cherished collaboration and partnership with the German Government and GIZ as the occasion of your visit to the NGC/MRC will afford us the opportunity to showcase the achievements recorded over the years in our valued cooperation with GIZ, and to discuss other possible areas of collaboration between our two nations.”
Lalong also added that ” Your Excellency, it may interest you to note that this partnership agreement was signed in recognition of the need to promote the development potentials of international labour migration and to support the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment to manage labour migration in a development-oriented way, provide support for the return and reintegration of migrants, create awareness on the risk of irregular migration as well as provide advice and information on regular pathways of migration to Germany.”
” It is remarkable to note that within the framework of this collaboration and with funding from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, we have recorded significant achievements in the areas of capacity building for staff of the Ministry; review and validation of the National Policy on Labour Migration 2014; and awareness creation on the dangers of irregular migration. ”
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, you will agree with me that the contributions of the NGC programme to social and economic development of our country cannot be overstated in view of its numerous achievements, opportunities and benefits to the Government and people of Nigeria.
Lalong also added that ” Consequently, I use this opportunity of your visit to NGC-MRC to underline the important role of the Migrant Resource Centres to the promotion of Safe, Orderly and Regular Labour Migration pathways to Germany and other European countries, as well as employment generation activities for the teaming Nigerian youths. Thus, it our expectation that the Federal Republic of Germany and Nigeria will promote labour exchange through Bilateral Labour Migration Agreements or Memorandum of Understanding to further encourage regular labour migration pathways for the benefits of both countries.
“. It is in this light that we appeal to the Federal Republic of Germany to consider the establishment of more Migrant Support Centres in the country to further deepen the fight against irregular migration.
The establishment of such centres particularly in other regions such as the north that is also a route for irregular migration will make access to the services rendered easier with attendant benefits.
Lalong expressed his profound appreciation to the German Government and GIZ for the generous financial and technical support to the NGC/MRCs, and to reassure you of our continuous commitment to the partnership and the successful implementation of the NGC project in Nigeria.
