Michael Olugbode in Abuja
The Vice Chancellor of the University of Abuja Prof. Abdul-Rasheed Na’Allah has disclosed the willingness of the university to partner the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) for better migration management through the newly established Centre for Migration Studies
Na’Allah stated this during a visit to the Chairman of NiDCOM, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja.
The vice chancellor emphasised that the visit was to foster partnership for better migration management.
Na’Allah described the university as an institution with large impact, noting that it is the first to introduce Distance Learning in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to leverage learning opportunities for public servants and other Nigerians all over the country.
He added: “As an institution situated in the centre of Nigeria, with over 50,000 students and also the first university the embassies come to interact with, we are ready to partner with you on the job you do as a commission.”
The VC stated that the centre was willing to talk to Nigerians and educate them on regular migration with information on several ways to migrate legitimately.
He said: “We can work on joint research, joint sensitisation effort to curb migration crisis, train your staff and other possible ways to best enhance migration management.”
Receiving the delegation on behalf of the chairman, NiDCOM, the Secretary to the Commission, Dr. Sule Bassi, notee that the commission was fully committed to better migration management.
Bassi described the partnership as essential, reiterating that migration is a natural phenomenon that cannot be stopped but can be beneficial if properly managed.
“Different factors such as push factor and pull factor lead to migration, what we do is to see how we can turn it into a win-win situation by encouraging those intending to migrate regularly so they can contribute their own quota to National Development” Bassi noted.
He further urged the university to also look at means through which the Diaspora can be encouraged to maintain ties with their homeland.
“We engage with the over 20 million Nigerian Diaspora by enabling them with knowledge on how to engage with Nigeria. They have the talents, resources and global exposure which can be harnessed for national development,” Bassi added.
The secretary highlighted how the commission continues to attract Nigerians back home and their investments through numerous programmes guided by the National Diaspora Policy.
He listed the programmes as: Nigeria Diaspora Investment Summit (NDIS), Diaspora Investment Trust Fund, Diaspora Mortgage Scheme and the National Diaspora Merit Award, amongst others.
