On February 9 at the Lagos Airport Hotel, Ikeja, the inaugural edition of the national migration summit of the Journalists International Forum For Migration (JIFORM) will be attended by Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the governor of Lagos State, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the chairman of the Nigerians In Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), and other dignitaries.
The governor has been asked to declare the summit opened, and Dabiri-Erewa will give a keynote speech on the benefits of the diaspora to the national economy, according to a statement released to the media by JIFORM President Dr. Ajibola Abayomi.
The summit functions as a yearly retreat to support the capacity building of journalists covering migration and other stakeholders as a platform to contribute to policies and concerns on migration-related topics.
“The greatness of nations is measured by how they react and take decisions when confronted with challenges. As a concerned media body, we are ready to join hands with the government and other organizations to stem the tide of irregular migration and human trafficking” Ajibola said.
The main lecture of the summit themed: The Missing Links and The Remedy would be delivered by Professor Lai Oso from the university of Lagos State under the chairmanship of the United Kingdom based Continental Chairman of the Nigerians In Diaspora (NiDEO), Dr Bashir Obasekola.
Other organizations to feature at the summit are National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking In Persons (NAPTIP), Diaspora Innovation Institute (DII), Nigeria Project 4040, Home For the Needy, Edo State (HFTN) and Initiative for Youth Awareness on Migration Immigration Development and Reintegration (IYAMIDR), embassies, students, civil society, security agencies and others.
JIFORM is a non-profit body comprising over 300 journalists and other volunteers across the continents covering migration matters.
Since 2019, the organization has become a major force organizing a series of local and international capacity building for journalists and other stakeholders. In 2021, it initiated the annual African Migration Summit held in Ghana in partnership with Nekotech Center of Excellence, Accra, the West African Media Migration Summit in Lome, Togo and held its 3rd Global Migration Summit in Toronto, Canada in October 2022.
The body in collaboration with the City University, New York City, US between November 2-4, 2022 in Brooklyn hosted the international migration summit.
