By: Aishatu Yakubu Shalangwa
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) have reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening responsible, accurate and professional reporting of migration issues in Nigeria.
The commitment was renewed when a delegation of IOM Nigeria visited the NUJ National Secretariat in Abuja, following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two organisations at the IOM Nigeria office about a month ago.
The engagement focused on reviewing areas of collaboration and exploring practical ways to strengthen migration reporting, improve journalists’ access to credible migration data and expertise, and promote informed public discourse on migration and related development issues.
Speaking during the visit, the Head of Media, Advocacy and Communication at IOM Nigeria,Rajat Madhok commended the NUJ leadership for providing an opportunity for both organisations to further dialogue on the implementation of their partnership.
He identified several areas requiring greater collaboration, including the mainstreaming of migration issues in the media, institutionalising migration studies by integrating migration-related courses into journalism education, providing internship opportunities for aspiring journalists, mentoring media professionals on migration reporting and employing mechanisms for awarding journalists.
Responding, the NUJ National President, Comrade Alhassan Yahya, welcomed the IOM delegation and appreciated the organisation for reciprocating the earlier engagement.
Yahya assured the delegation of the NUJ’s readiness to work with IOM on shared development objectives, including planning meetings, capacity-building programmes and specialised training for journalists and media executives, particularly editors.
He also proposed the integration of migration studies into the curriculum of journalism institutes and the organisation of special programmes with the NUJ and the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to engage young graduates.
According to him, the NUJ would explore opportunities to reach corps members through NYSC orientation camps, Community Development Service (CDS) activities and corps members’ forums, while also considering the development of migration-focused programmes on NYSC media platforms.
The NUJ President further called for greater attention to the welfare and safety of journalists covering migration and related issues. He expressed concern over the low level of insurance coverage among Nigerian journalists and appealed for support to strengthen insurance protection for media professionals working in potentially challenging reporting environments.
The partnership is expected to leverage IOM’s technical expertise on migration and the NUJ’s nationwide network of journalists to promote ethical, balanced and evidence-based reporting, while improving public understanding of migration and human mobility in Nigeria.
