Doro: New Framework Translates Nigeria’s Global Migration Commitments into Coordinated National Action
The administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has taken a major step towards strengthening Nigeria’s migration governance architecture with the Federal Executive Council’s adoption of the Revised 2025 National Migration Policy (NMP).
The policy was formally adopted at the FEC meeting on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, following an extensive review and consultation process designed to update the National Migration Policy originally adopted in 2015.
The Honourable Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Dr. Bernard M. Doro, described the development as a significant milestone in the Federal Government’s efforts to establish a more coordinated, responsive, rights-centred and people-focused migration governance system.
In a statement issued on Thursday by Dr. Abimbola Fasanu, Senior Technical Adviser on Information Systems and Data Analysis to the Minister, Doro said the revised policy would provide a stronger national framework for protecting migrants, promoting safe and regular migration, supporting return and reintegration, improving migration data and maximising the contribution of migration to national development.
From Global Commitments to National Action
According to the Minister, the FEC approval is particularly significant coming months after Nigeria’s active participation in the 2026 International Migration Review Forum (IMRF) at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.
Doro led Nigeria’s delegation to the global forum in May and served as Co-Chair of Roundtable 3, where Nigeria highlighted its progress in implementing the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM).
He said the adoption of the revised policy now provides the domestic framework required to convert Nigeria’s international commitments into measurable programmes and institutional action.
“Our participation at the International Migration Review Forum demonstrated Nigeria’s commitments to the world. The adoption of the Revised National Migration Policy brings those commitments home and provides the national framework for translating them into coordinated and measurable action,” Doro said.
The Minister stressed that the ultimate measure of migration policy should be its impact on Nigerians both within the country and abroad.
“Migration should not become a journey into vulnerability. Our responsibility is to build systems that enable Nigerians to migrate safely and regularly, protect those who move, support those who return, and harness migration as a force for national development,” he stated.
Whole-of-Government, Whole-of-Society Framework
The revised policy is the product of an extensive whole-of-government and whole-of-society consultation process involving Ministries, Departments and Agencies, State Governments, civil society organisations, academia, international development partners and other stakeholders across Nigeria’s migration ecosystem.
The review was led by the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI), in its coordinating role within Nigeria’s migration management architecture.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) provided technical support to the process.
The revised policy and its accompanying Integrated Implementation Plan were formally validated by stakeholders at the Technical Working Group on Migration and Development meeting held in Abuja on April 29, 2025.
The framework seeks to strengthen institutional coordination, respond to emerging migration trends and improve alignment between Nigeria’s national development priorities and regional and international migration frameworks, particularly the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration.
Protecting Migrants, Unlocking Development Benefits
Beyond strengthening institutional coordination, implementation of the revised policy is expected to deliver wider socioeconomic benefits.
The framework is designed to strengthen protection for Nigerian migrants, expand pathways for safe, orderly and regular migration, improve support for Nigerians returning home and enhance the collection and utilisation of migration and diaspora data.
It is also expected to strengthen coordination among Federal, State and Local Governments while providing a clearer framework for harnessing the economic, social and developmental contributions of migration and the Nigerian diaspora.
At the same time, the policy is expected to improve Nigeria’s response to irregular migration, migrant vulnerability and other emerging migration-related challenges.
Doro said migration should be viewed not merely as the movement of people but as an important component of Nigeria’s development strategy.
“The movement of people is a reality of our interconnected world. Our task as Government is not merely to manage movement, but to ensure that migration is safer, better coordinated and capable of contributing positively to the lives of our citizens and the development of our country,” he said.
NCFRMI Welcomes FEC Approval
The Federal Commissioner of NCFRMI, Dr. Tijani Aliyu Ahmed, also welcomed the FEC decision, describing it as the culmination of years of technical work, consultations and collaboration across Nigeria’s migration governance architecture.
Ahmed said the approval would provide renewed impetus for coordinated implementation at Federal, State and Local Government levels.
He added that the policy would strengthen Nigeria’s capacity to protect migrants and vulnerable populations while maximising the developmental benefits associated with migration.
Implementation Becomes the Next Test
With the FEC’s adoption of the Revised National Migration Policy, attention now shifts from policy formulation to implementation, monitoring, evaluation and localisation.
The effectiveness of the framework will ultimately depend on how successfully its provisions are translated into concrete programmes, institutional responsibilities, funding arrangements and measurable outcomes across different levels of government.
The policy is expected to provide an evidence-based and rights-centred framework capable of responding to changing migration patterns while remaining aligned with Nigeria’s broader development priorities.
Doro acknowledged that policy approval was only the beginning of the process.
“This approval is not the end of the process. It is the beginning of the most important phase: implementation.”
He said the Federal Government would work with relevant agencies, State and Local Governments, development partners, civil society organisations and international partners to ensure that the policy produces tangible results.
“Our responsibility now is to ensure that the policy moves beyond paper and becomes a living framework that protects Nigerians, strengthens coordination, creates safer migration pathways and enables our country to harness migration as an instrument of development,” the Minister stated.
He added that the development demonstrates the commitment of the Tinubu administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda to strengthening institutions and ensuring that Nigeria’s international obligations translate into practical benefits for citizens.
“Under President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, we will continue working with our agencies, State and Local Governments, development partners, civil society and the international community to build a migration governance system that works for Nigeria and for Nigerians wherever they may be,” Doro said.
The Ameh News Analysis: From Policy Approval to Delivery
The adoption of the Revised National Migration Policy represents more than an administrative update of a 2015 framework. Its strategic importance lies in Nigeria’s attempt to connect migration governance with national development, citizens’ welfare, diaspora engagement and international commitments.
The real test, however, will be implementation.
For the policy to become a transformative instrument, the Federal Government and its partners will need to establish clear institutional responsibilities, measurable targets, reliable migration data, sustainable funding and effective coordination across Federal, State and Local Governments.
If successfully implemented, the revised framework could provide Nigeria with a stronger architecture for protecting its citizens on the move while turning migration and diaspora engagement into more deliberate instruments of economic and national development.
The Ameh News anatomy of a migration governance strategy worth watching is therefore no longer the policy approval itself, but how effectively the Tinubu administration converts the new framework from a government document into measurable protection, safer migration pathways and tangible development outcomes for Nigerians at home and abroad.
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