The Nigerian Government has reaffirmed its commitment to the readmission and reintegration of returning citizens through deliberate programmes aimed at helping them rebuild their lives and become self-reliant.
The Federal Commissioner of the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI), Tijjani Aliyu, stated this while receiving a delegation from the Government of Turkey on a study tour to learn from Nigeria’s reintegration model.
Aliyu said Nigeria remained committed to supporting returnees with the assistance and opportunities needed to enable their successful reintegration into society.
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He noted that both countries would exchange experiences and explore areas of collaboration to improve migration management and reduce the number of returnees from their respective countries.
According to him, migration has become a global phenomenon that will continue to evolve as people seek better opportunities across borders.
Aliyu said the government would continue to provide support for returnees despite the increasing number of people returning to the country.
“A few weeks ago, we were in Lagos, where we received some Nigerians from South Africa. And of course, it’s the responsibility of the government to fend for them and make sure they receive psychosocial support. Not only that, but to also train them so that they can be self-reliant because we cannot continue to keep them in camps. We’re exiting camps,” he stressed.
He further explained that the government was working to ensure that returnees received the support required to reintegrate successfully into their communities.
Aliyu also assured Nigerians that arrangements were nearing completion for the repatriation of the remaining Nigerians in South Africa and other parts of the world.
He said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was handling the necessary diplomatic engagements to facilitate smooth repatriation and voluntary return processes.
The Leader of the Turkish delegation and Head of Department at the Turkish Migration Presidency, Hunkar Ibn, said Turkey was interested in learning from Nigeria’s experiences in return, readmission and reintegration.
He said Turkey viewed migration from a humanitarian perspective rooted in dignity and understanding rather than solely as a security issue.
“Not only in migration, but also cultural and other aspects of relations. We are focusing on a friendly approach to this and trying to have a sustainable intervention. It’s not something that we established recently; it has been in our culture for a long time,” Ibn explained.
The Leader of the Turkish delegation also said that Turkey had presented a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to Nigeria based on its Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), covering operational processes, bilateral cooperation, educational exchanges and other areas of mutual interest.
“Based on these approaches, we presented a memorandum of understanding based on the SOPs, Standard Operating Procedures, to Nigeria. It does not only include the workflow. Also, the bilateral relationship, also the educational aspect and also the areas that you pointed out as the need,” he disclosed.
Ibn also revealed that Turkey had experienced significant migration-related challenges in recent years, prompting its interest in studying Nigeria’s reintegration model.
He invited the commission to visit Turkey to gain first-hand insight into the country’s migration management framework.
“With this approach, we will be glad that we will be taking the Nigeria-Turkey brotherly relationship to the next level,” the Leader of the Turkish delegation added.
The delegation also presented a proposal for an MoU, including a sample of Turkey’s migration management model.
