The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has called on Nigerian journalists to move away from sensationalist headlines and embrace human-centric, data-driven journalism to restore dignity and protection for displaced persons and returnees. The appeal was made by IOM Head of Office in Lagos, Ali Ibrahim, during a three-day capacity building workshop for journalists on ethical and data-driven migration reporting, themed "From Headlines to Impact," held yesterday in Lagos.
Humanizing Migration Stories
Ibrahim noted that public discourse on migration is often overshadowed by controversies, crises, and stereotypes, emphasizing that the media must recognize the human faces behind the statistics. "Migration is many things to many people, but in reality, it is about people—real people with real stories. We want to discuss how to tell their stories in a way that humanizes and dignifies them, and shares their new experiences together," he stated.
Practical Training for Journalists
To make the training practical, the UN agency revealed that participating journalists would observe the arrival of an upcoming charter flight evacuating stranded Nigerian migrants from Libya, followed by a field visit to the airport transit center to interact with returnees. Ibrahim explained that these exercises would expose journalists to the raw realities of the migration corridor, capturing narratives of hope, hard-earned experiences, and the systemic rights violations suffered by victims of irregular migration routes.
IOM's Operational Focus
Fatima Adeyemi, Project Assistant of the IOM Awareness Raising team, provided a breakdown of the agency's operational footprint. She highlighted that while IOM's strategic interventions in Northern Nigeria focus heavily on providing shelter, sanitation, energy, and protection for populations displaced by armed conflict, its Southern operations are geared towards facilitating orderly migration management. The agency noted its close collaboration with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to manage regional mobility, strengthen border structures, and provide secure data infrastructure to effectively handle migration flows across border regions.
Core Mission and Sustainable Solutions
The IOM reiterated its core mission to collaborate with state and non-state actors to drive sustainable solutions to displacement, save lives, and facilitate regular migration pathways that shield vulnerable citizens from exploitation. Earlier, IOM's Senior Communications Assistant, Elijah Elaigwu, explained that the workshop aims to empower journalists to better communicate migration issues to the public, promoting humane and orderly migration, and ensuring that potential migrants do so in the right way.
