The phenomenon of migration in Nigeria is vast and complex; although many people arrive in search of shelter, many are passing through, and others leave the country to find security elsewhere. Each one is full of experiences, uncertainties and wounds but all have the same dream: to find a better and more secure life. In this scenario, the Nigerian Church is at the service of the most fragile with its widespread and dynamic presence. On 1 September 2023 was born the Migrants and Refugees Unit instituted by the Catholic Episcopal Conference of Nigeria, and presided over by H.E. Mons. Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, bishop of Kontagora.
The Agency, guided by the Director Fr. Augustine Akhogba, is part of the Church and Society Department of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria and offers concrete, appropriate, and specific responses to the migration crisis of the country. Its work is well structured and functional, working daily to promote initiatives, organize meetings and offer material and spiritual support. The main task of the Migrants and Refugees Unit is the formation of new pastoral agents for the individual dioceses and other Catholic organizations. The Unit also has the responsibility to assist the Episcopal Conference in the activity of promotion and development and of being a channel of communication with other diocesan offices, with the competent governmental departments and with the organizations in the civil society that operate in the migration sector. From the day of its birth, it has already expanded replicating the model in 41 of the 60 Nigerian dioceses and relies today on numerous male and female religious congregations.
Aids for pastoral care and for advocacy activities
As Mons. Bulus Dauwa Yohanna has stated “the rate of internal voluntary and nonvoluntary migration, as evidenced by the growing camps for refugees and displaced persons throughout the country, requires a serious pastoral and strategic imagination.” For this reason, the Unit has prepared the “Handbook on Pastoral Care of Migrations in Nigeria,” a manual useful to the Church that works in close contact with migrants and refugees. It includes guidelines to help adequately those who have need of assistance. In the volume is contextualized the Nigerian migration phenomenon, shedding light on its different aspects: social, economic, political and spiritual. The ministry of migratory pastoral care is also present in the contemporary era and, in a specific way, it follows the road traced by the pontificate of Pope Francis with the four verbs: welcome, protect, promote and integrate proposed as a vademecum for those who work in this sector. In this text are found orientations for the implementation of pastoral programs and, to remind the Church of its mission to follow Christ, biblical citations accompanied by a prayer are included as well.
To complement the manual, the Unit has produced the guide “National Policy and Implementation Framework” to face the reality of migration integrating with the institutions, promoting a continuous dialogue with them and sustaining specific defense and sustaining activities. As explained by Mons. Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, it is important “to guarantee that governments adopt policies that guarantee the protection and security of migrants and their possibility to access the assistance and support to which they have the right.”
The Episcopal Conference, through its offices, has spread these aids and organized many events to update, coordinate and act in favor of the most fragile, without neglecting the material, psychological and spiritual assistance offered daily.
