Adewale Sanyaolu
Worried by the challenges faced by irregular migrants from Nigeria, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and concerned stakeholders in Edo State have launched a multimedia campaign to help youths make informed migration-related decisions
The campaign seeks to address the gap in information by majority of the migrants on the do’s and dont’s, particularly for those migrating to Europe.
The IOM and commuity members in Oredo and Ikpoba Okha, two local government areas in Edo, and local authorities, recently launched WAKA Well to realise thier objective.
WAKA a pidgin word means move. The campaign aims to prevent exploitation associated with irregular migration by empowering Nigerian youth to make informed migration-related decisions.
An IOM study conducted in September 2019 in Oredo and Ikpoba Okha, reveals that 58 per cent (out of 419 respondents) aged between 13 and 40 have not heard or seen information on the dangers of irregular migration in the last year.
Additionally, 58 per cent indicated that friends were their primary source for information on migration, and 66 per cent said they got information about job opportunities in Europe through word-of-mouth.