From Okwe Obi, Abuja
The National Commission for Refugees, Migration and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI) and the Nasarawa State University Keffi, Nasarawa State, have announced partnership to establish the International Centre of Excellence for Migration and Humanitarian Development Studies (ICEMIDS).
The Memorandum of Understanding was signed yesterday between NCFRMI Federal Commissioner, Tijani Ahmed and NSUK Vice Chancellor, Professor Suleman Bala Mohammed, in Keffi.
The MoU is to serve as a vehicular instrument for facilitating strategic collaboration between the parties in the area(s) of common interest(s) by way of developing sustainable programmes and supporting research in migration, refugees and humanitarian development studies.
Further mandates of ICEMIDS will be deliberated, established and outlined in the agreement pursuant to this MoU.
It would promote rigorous, interdisciplinary research because both parties having recognized that comprehensive solutions to contemporary challenges require insights from multiple disciplines, commit to promoting interdisciplinary research within ICEMIDS.
Speaking also, NCFRMI’s Ahmed said the study would guide migrants and young people who travel out of the country in search of greener pastures.
According to him, the study will reduce cases of death, maltreatment and other ills associated with irregular methods of migration.
“We are here to sign an MoU with the Nasarawa State University to protect migrants, refugees and internally displaced persons.
“Today in Nigeria, many of our youths leave the country for greener pastures. Some of them go through the irregular method and some through the regular methods.
“So many of our youths die across the oceans all in a bid to go through the irregular route.
“So, we want to give them the knowledge and understanding of how to go about things because migration is very important for both the country and the participants but the need for them to go through the regular means is absolutely necessary and one of the ways to catch them young and to get them informed is the university.
“The university will give them the knowledge for them to understand the processes so they don’t fall into the wrong hands,” he said.
On his part, the Vice Chancellor Professor Suleman Bala Mohammed, said: “We have done the discussion and framework.
“Today, we want to sign the agreement which will provide the legal framework for the implementation of what we have agreed upon.
“We are very pleased and delighted that the Federal Commissioner who is clearly one of us has facilitated this collaboration.