By Eberechi Obinagwam,
International Labour Organisation (ILO) has met with various stakeholders in the entrepreneurial sector to discuss the way forward towards building a sustainable reintegration for return migrants in Nigeria.
During a two-day communication, visibility meeting held last Thursday in Lagos, with the theme: Employment and Reintegration in Nigeria, ILO advised Nigerians who want to Migrate abroad to go through the Migration Resource Center (MRC) so they can have proper information on skills required in destination countries.
ILO project coordinator, Celestine Okeke, at the meeting, said Trade Test is important to help migrants gain jobs when they travel.
According to him, Trade Test is what is recognised globally for skill certification like fashion, electricals etc.
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“The idea around the fall out of Trade Test conversation we have been having with the government, workers union, social partners and the rest is to say how can you make sure that when you train, whether it’s a returnee, potential or just a Nigerian Migrant, they learn that skill and learn it in such a way that they use it to gain jobs when they travel. And within our own approach, Trade Test is what is recognised globally for skill certification,” he said.
Okeke said the idea behind the meeting is to support partners like NLC, TUC, the workers union themselves and the local economy to synergize among themselves and support labour migration in Nigeria which includes reintegration and employment creation for the local population.
Program Director, Patriotic Citizen Initiatives, Osita Osemene, one of the strategic partners to ILO disclosed that over the years, the organization has been having programmes for Migrants, especially on how to integrate them into society, but has been difficult because there was no structure and professionalism.
“ILO in this regard does not want it to be just reintegration, but a reintegration that is holistic, encompassing, bringing all the stakeholders to ensure that there is a sustainable approach and everybody identifying their areas of strength, and be able to work together in achieving the same goal. That’s why ILO came up with this program for the employment and reintegration of return migrants,” he said.
He IS optimistic that the meeting will give proper coordination and also help migrants to be well informed on how to get certified in terms of their reintegration.
He also disclosed that the organisation have a working structure for returnees in Nigeria at the state level in different states and at the national level.
Assistant Director of the National Directorate of Employment, Mary Ndirapaya advocated for a regulatory body where the informal and formal sectors that want to further their education can go for the national board technical certification which she said would be better than doing Trade Test.
She explained that there have been a lot of organisations coming up with certifications even though she agrees that one institution cannot do the skill training alone because of the population Nigeria has.