Nigeria - The International Organisation for Migration (IOM), in partnership with the Edo State Government, launched a creative campaign in Benin City on 20 July 2023, targeted at providing information on the risks of irregular migration and trafficking in persons in addition to available local opportunities in Edo State. 

The campaign, Edo Sure 4 You, was developed through a community-centred approach, bringing together the collective inputs of community representatives, returnees, relevant ministries, and organisations at design lab and pretest workshops held in Benin City. Therefore, adopting a Communication for Development approach will ensure community ownership of the initiative, thereby ensuring the campaign’s sustainability. 

The campaign materials (jingle, short video, and graphic illustrations) will be disseminated primarily through social media in addition to television and radio. A baseline survey on safe migration carried out to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practises of youths in the key target areas of the campaign, Ikpoba Okha, Etsako West, and Esan Northeast local government areas, showed that 66% of the respondents prefer receiving information on safe migration through social media. Through this campaign, potential migrants and community members, including vulnerable migrants, will be able to have accurate information on safe migration pathways and the available local opportunities in Edo State. 

"A lot of potential migrants are not well informed about the opportunities available within the state. Therefore, they seek alternative means of livelihood and, in the process, fall victim to false job promises abroad. At the end of the day, they discover that the picture painted before migrating is entirely different from the reality abroad. Through this campaign, we hope potential migrants will be well informed on the available local opportunities, alternatives to irregular migration, and safe migration pathways", said Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Development Partnerships, Uyi Osifo. 

The project aims to work closely with key partners, social media influencers, and community members to ensure ownership and sustainability. 

"The MMDP 2.0 project strives to create awareness on the opportunities present in the state and ensure a change in behaviour on irregular migration and Trafficking in Persons", said Cyprine Cheptepkeny, IOM Nigeria, Awareness Raising Project Officer. 

This campaign is funded by the Government of Italy, and it is aimed at producing creative campaign content that will show the dangers of irregular migration and trafficking in persons as well as provide access to information on safe migration and available local opportunities. 

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For more information, please contact:

 Elijah Elaigwu, elaigwu@iom.int