The Migration Enlightenment Project Nigeria (MEPN) has called on the Nigerian government to “significantly increase consular support” to Nigerian irregular migrants in the transit and destination countries. The Germany-based group made the call in a press statement, released on Monday 26 November, arguing that stranded migrants, especially in transit, are left totally at the mercy of the very traffickers who …

Last year, about 38,000 migrants from third countries received a residence permit in Germany because of their work experience and skills. Compared to 2009, it’s an increase of more than 50 percent. Most came from India, Bosnia-Herzegovina, USA, Serbia and China. The immigration of skilled workers from non-EU countries to Germany is increasing. Last year, more than twice as many …

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo will deliver a keynote address at the maiden Nigeria Diaspora Investment Summit (NDIS), which holds in Abuja on 27-29 November. The three-day summit, themed “Activating Diaspora Investment for a Diversified Economy” and holding in the Banquet Hall of the State House, Aso Villa, is to provide a platform for Nigerians in the diaspora to invest in the …

Germany’s Interior Ministry has proposed new measures to monitor and deport persons whose asylum application has been rejected.  The German Interior Ministry on Sunday (18 November) confirmed plans to facilitate and accelerate deportations of failed asylum-seekers along with those who should have their asylum requests processed in another EU country under the so-called Dublin rules. According to the European Union’s Dublin …

Femi Awoniyi continues his report on the annual general meeting of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation Europe, which held in Vienna, Austria, on 8-10 November, bringing together Nigerians from across Europe and Nigeria to discuss topical issues affecting their home country. The second of the 3-day annual general meeting of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation Europe (NIDOE), with the theme …

Nigeria’s campaign season was officially flagged off on Sunday by the country’s election commission and the two leading candidates for the presidential polls wasted no time to present their plans to the electorate. President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday asked Nigerians to re-elect him in 2019, primarily to keep fighting the corruption war his administration started in 2015. He also stated …

On Saturday, 17 November, the Afrobeat star, Femi Kuti and his Positive Force band performed at the Young African Art Market (YAAM) in East Berlin. Our Contributing Editor, Michael Nnaji witnessed the event and reports on the high and low points of the memory night. Femi Kuti and his Positive Force band raised the temperature of the Berlin audience on …

People from Germany’s list of “safe” countries rarely have the right to asylum. Keith Walker and Timothy Jones of Deutsche Welle look at what the list means for asylum-seekers in Germany. Germany’s constitution defines as “safe countries of origin” the ones “in which, on the basis of their laws, enforcement practices and general political conditions, it can be safely concluded …

Femi Awoniyi, Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of The African Courier magazine, writes on the annual general meeting of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation Europe which took place on 8-10 November in Vienna, Austria. The general meeting of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation Europe (NIDOE) takes place once in a year and it brings together Nigerians from different walks of life, from across Europe. …

Events were held across Germany on Monday (12 November) to mark the centennial anniversary of women’s right to vote. “Today, no one will laugh when a little girl says she wants to be a minister or the German chancellor,” Chancellor Angela Merkel said at an event in Berlin. She however warned against setbacks in women’s rights. The fact Germany has …