Revised national migration policy’ll protect migrants, support Nigerians’ reintegration — Minister

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The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Dr Bernard Doro, has described the Federal Executive Council’s adoption of Nigeria’s Revised National Migration Policy as a major milestone in efforts to strengthen migrant protection, support the reintegration of returning Nigerians and harness migration for national development.

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The policy was adopted at the Federal Executive Council meeting on Wednesday, following an extensive review and consultation process involving government institutions, state governments, civil society organisations, academia, development partners and other stakeholders in Nigeria’s migration sector.

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In a statement issued on Friday by his Senior Technical Adviser on Information Systems and Data Analysis, Dr Abimbola Fasanu, Doro said the revised policy would provide a stronger national framework for translating Nigeria’s international migration commitments into coordinated action.

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“The framework would strengthen the protection of migrants, expand opportunities for safe and regular migration, improve support for Nigerians returning home, enhance migration and diaspora data, and maximise the developmental contributions of migration,” he said.

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The minister said the adoption was particularly significant following Nigeria’s participation in the 2026 International Migration Review Forum (IMRF), held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York in May.

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Doro, who led Nigeria’s delegation to the forum and served as Co-Chair of Roundtable 3, said the country had used the global platform to demonstrate progress in implementing the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration.

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“Our participation at the International Migration Review Forum demonstrated Nigeria’s commitments to the world. The adoption of the Revised National Migration Policy brings those commitments home and provides the national framework for translating them into coordinated and measurable action,” he said.

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The minister stressed that the success of migration governance should ultimately be measured by its impact on Nigerians at home and abroad.

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“Migration should not become a journey into vulnerability. Our responsibility is to build systems that enable Nigerians to migrate safely and regularly, protectg those who move, support those who return, and harness migration as a force for national development,” Doro said.

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The Revised National Migration Policy is the product of a whole-of-government and whole-of-society consultation process coordinated by the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons ,with technical support from the International Organization for Migration .

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The revised policy and its Integrated Implementation Plan were validated by stakeholders at the Technical Working Group on Migration and Development meeting in Abuja on April 29, 2025. The framework is designed to strengthen institutional coordination, respond to emerging migration trends and align Nigeria’s migration priorities with regional and international frameworks.

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Doro commended the NCFRMI, government institutions, IOM, development partners, civil society organisations and other stakeholders for their contributions to the policy review.

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He said the significance of the policy went beyond improving coordination among government agencies, noting that its implementation would strengthen the protection of Nigerian migrants, create safer and more regular migration pathways, improve assistance for returnees and enhance the collection and use of migration and diaspora data.

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The policy is also expected to improve coordination among federal, state and local governments while creating clearer mechanisms for maximising the economic and developmental contributions of migration and the Nigerian diaspora.

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“The movement of people is a reality of our interconnected world. Our task as government is not merely to manage movement, but to ensure that migration is safer, better coordinated and capable of contributing positively to the lives of our citizens and the development of our country,” Doro said.

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The Federal Commissioner of NCFRMI, Dr Tijani Ahmed, also welcomed the FEC decision, describing it as the culmination of years of technical work, consultations and collaboration across Nigeria’s migration governance architecture.

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Ahmed said the approval would provide fresh impetus for coordinated implementation at the federal, state and local levels, while strengthening Nigeria’s capacity to protect migrants and vulnerable populations and maximise the developmental benefits of migration.

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The policy now moves the government’s focus from formulation to implementation, monitoring and localisation.

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Doro said the FEC decision reflected President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s commitment to institutional reform and ensuring that Nigeria’s international obligations translated into practical benefits for citizens.

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“This approval is not the end of the process. It is the beginning of the most important phase: implementation,” he said.

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“Our responsibility now is to ensure that the policy moves beyond paper and becomes a living framework that protects Nigerians, strengthens coordination, creates safer migration pathways and enables our country to harness migration as an instrument of development,” he said.

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He added: “Under President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, we will continue working with our agencies, State and Local Governments, development partners, civil society and the international community to build a migration governance system that works for Nigeria and for Nigerians wherever they may be.”

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