IOM, EU, and partnering agencies have launched a community dialogue and community theatre manual in Abuja Nigeria’s capital.
The manual which is on irregular migration including smuggling and trafficking in persons will be used by trained facilitators and theatre troupe members to guide and stir discussions on promoting safe migration pathways and providing homegrown solutions to irregular migration communities.
Speaking at the launch, IOM Country Director Represented by the Head, Programme Support Unit IOM, Ms. Prestage Murima, said that intervention by IOM is meant to showcase the numerous opportunities available in Nigeria.
“Since the inception, Joint Initiative in April 2017 The International Organization for Migration (IOM), in coordination with NAPTIP and NOA has been engaged in implementing violence awareness-raising activities in Nigeria, and these have been designed to cause behavioural change among potential migrants their friends and families and the communities at large. These interventions are homegrown, community-led and ready to improve access to trusted information sources and promote informed decision making by sensitizing potential migrants on regular migration options vulnerabilities to trafficking in person and this is associated with irregular migration. We can all agree that the biggest issue we are dealing with irregular migration is misinformation”.
While highlighting some of the interventions done so far by the IOM, Murima said “The interventions are designed to highlight the opportunities that abound at home first on social inclusion amongst migrants and their community members and to encourage home coordination initiative to indigenous problems which we can all acknowledge that Nigeria is very good as partners and stakeholders. It is through your allegiance support and collaboration that we have managed to reach close to 25,600 people through different peace sensitisation activities such as community dialogue community theatre. 682 community dialogue facilitators have been to change across Lagos, Delta and Edo states while other 86 community theatre shows have performed by trained actors, reaching over 25, 000 people’’.
She added that “The fight against human trafficking and irregular migration is not a task for an individual agency but rather a task that involves all of us working together, after all, it takes a village. We believe it is through our joint efforts and collaboration, that we can be able to reduce the incidence of irregular migration and achieve the sustainable intervention of our returning brothers and sisters. I, therefore, reiterate IOM’s commitment to supporting the federal government of Nigeria through the available ministries, department and agencies in all areas of mutual interest.
Also speaking, the Director-General National Orientation Agency NOA, Dr. Garba Abari, explained the importance of community theatre in fighting irregular migration in Nigeria.
“The event signifies the importance of taking information through the active demonstration of the ills that are associated with irregular migration. We want to use the platform of community theatre to communicate the message. We can use the community halls in respective villages; demonstrate the dangers of irregular migration. And to do this we need a lot of partnerships because the impact is cross-cultural, it is not only about irregular migration but human trafficking as well,” Dr. Garba Abari said.
In the same vein, the Director of Public Enlightenment NAPTIP Mr. Orakwe Arinze, noted that community theatre helps stir debate amongst community members in order to arrive at local solutions.
He stated that NAPTIP has been in full support of IOM’s activities. “NAPTIP is creating state holding groups which is the arm of CSOs, law enforcement, police immigration in different states under the chair of the state attorney general, and the basic work of this tool is for enlightenment and to enhance prevention. And the only way to enhance prevention is to throw light in the darkness that parades the corridors of trafficking and irregular migration. This is something they are going to use, we are going to have copies and share it with our partners for them push down to those state working groups so they can use it in doing their work”
The activities of IOM have been piloted in selected communities in Edo, Delta, and Lagos States as IOM data shows a high rate of irregular migration to Libya and Europe from these states.
Since March 2019, over 700 community dialogue facilitators from these states have been trained and subsequently conducted 69 community dialogue sessions.
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