THE AFRICAN COURIER. Reporting Africa and its Diaspora! The African Courier is an international magazine published in Germany to report on Africa and the Diaspora African experience. The first issue of the bimonthly magazine appeared on the newsstands on 15 February 1998. The African Courier is a communication forum for European-African political, economic and cultural exchanges, and a voice for Africa in Europe.
NIDO Germany has successfully participated in the pilot phase of a project to integrate the organisation and returning experts into the advisory structure of the Nigerian-German Centre for Jobs, Migration and Reintegration (NGC) on regular migration.
The NGC, run by the GIZ and which operates in Abuja, Benin-City and Lagos, provides advisory services to prospective migrants as well as conducts vocational training and job placement in Nigeria. The Centre also offers support and assistance to returning experts from Germany.
Femi Awoniyi and Moses Ogun, President and General Secretary of NIDO Germany respectively, participated as Speakers/Resource Persons at three information sessions on regular migration organised by the NGC in Abuja (27 January), Benin City (31 January) and Lagos (2 February).
While Ogun spoke virtually from Hamburg, Awoniyi was physically present at the events, attended by young Nigerians seeking information about migration to Germany. Project Officer of NIDO Germany, Mazi Obiora Nweke, was also present at the Abuja event.
Drawing on their personal and professional experiences, the NIDO Germany representatives spoke on migrating and living in Germany, identifying the challenges often faced by Nigerian migrants and making recommendations on how to overcome the challenges.
“Our objective is to encourage prospective migrants to obtain a realistic picture of the migration process so that they could gain a clear perception of the benefits and costs of the process,” Awoniyi said.
“Moses and I acted as external consultants to the GIZ in the test phase of a planned integration of NIDO Germany and returning professionals in the advisory services of the NGC in Nigeria,” he added.
The German government wants to increasingly involve returning professionals and diaspora organisations more closely in migration counselling, as they are conversant with both the country of origin and the host country and can thus pass on their own experience of migration and integration to prospective migrants and convey realistic impressions of the migration process.
The events were organised under the auspices of the Programme Migration and Diaspora (PMD) of the GIZ.
Larry Bello
