Kano State has recorded no fewer than 20,000 returnees from irregular migration between 2017 and 2022, largely driven by youth unemployment and limited economic opportunities.
The Adolescent Health and Information Project (AHIP), a non-governmental organization, made this known during a one-day media workshop for journalists in Kano.
The organisation’s Project Manager for Resilient Opportunities for Outreach, Trade and Sustainability project, Halima Usman, in her presentation of the overview of the project, attributed the growing trend of irregular migration to worsening socio-economic conditions.
She noted that with over 65 percent of Kano’s population under the age of 30 and youth unemployment estimated at over 40 percent, many young people view migration as a survival strategy.
“Between 2017 and 2022, about 20,000 irregular migrants from Kano were returned from different parts of the world.
“Failed migration journeys have resulted in loss of lives, debt, family impoverishment, stigma, and serious reintegration challenges,” she said.
Usman explained that Kano remains a major departure hub for irregular migration, adding that deportations have further exposed the economic and social vulnerabilities facing returnees.
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She disclosed that the organisation is implementing reintegration programmes aimed at engaging returnees in skills acquisition, economic empowerment, and access to funding to support small businesses and trades.
She called on the media to intensify public sensitisation against irregular migration, stressing the need for proper documentation and adherence to the ECOWAS Protocol on Free Movement.
Executive Director of AHIP, Mairo Bello, said the workshop was organised to strengthen journalists’ engagement on safe and legal migration, reintegration of returnees, and regional trade opportunities.
She said the AHIP is implementing the EU-funded ROOTS project in collaboration with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in Dala, Ungogo, and Bunkure Local Government Areas, identified as major migration routes.
Bello said the initiative also supports returnees and internally displaced persons through agribusiness and enterprise development, urging the media to promote legal livelihoods at home.
