NIIA Workshop on Migration & Terrorism

By Edino Justice

The Director General of the Nigerian institute of International Affairs, NIIA, Professor Bola Akinterinwa has called for the creation of the Ministry for Migration Affairs to manage the expected gains of the Transformation Agenda of the present Administration. NIIA DG made the call at the 15th Special Brainstorming Session on Migration and Terrorism in West Africa held in Abuja. The Forum is organized by NIIA in collaboration with Delphi Media.

The discussion focused on the causes and the line between migration and terrorism with particular reference to West Africa. Paper Presentations dwelt on such topics as Global Trends in Migration, ECOWAS Protocols and Integration, Migration and National development.

The Director General, NIIA Professor Bola Akinterinwa who presented a paper entitled “Managing Migration and ECOWAS Integration in an Era of National and Regional Insecurity” said migration could serve as a source of terrorism. Participants identified the Nation’s porous borders, lack of equipment, low capacity development and lack of coordination as some of the challenges of migration management in the West African Sub-region. Some of the spoke on the need to build human capacity.

The Participants were from the Military, Para-military, Academia, Politicans, MDA’s and Foreign Missions in Nigeria.