Babcock University, Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State, has signed a strategic partnership with the Blacks Ancestral Native Communities (BANC) Foundation to combat the rising tide of irregular migration by equipping Nigerian youth with practical skills.
The agreement, formalised through a memorandum of understanding (MoU) at the university’s campus, paves the way for the training of up to 10,000 young people, including students, artisans, school dropouts, and other interested participants in trades such as motor mechanics, plumbing, electronics, ICT, culinary arts, tailoring, and tiling, among others.
Founder and President of the BANC Foundation, Dr. Chibuzor Onyema described the initiative as a genuine platform for labour exchange between Africa and Western countries aimed at curbing the scourge of irregular migration in Nigeria.
Onyema emphasised the importance of a hands-on, practical education model that equips participants not only for local opportunities but also for global relevance.
Onyema, who joined the event virtually, highlighted ongoing efforts to build international partnerships that would provide participants with both credibility and access to legitimate overseas opportunities.
Vice-Chancellor, Babcock University, Prof. Tayo Ademola, welcomed the collaboration as a major boost to the institution’s entrepreneurial drive.
He said the MoU would strengthen the entrepreneurial centre as a launchpad for underserved youth to acquire competence, self-sufficiency, and prosperity.
Reinforcing this point, Director of the Centre for Entrepreneurial Development at Babcock, Dr. Ayodeji Ajibade, noted that the university’s infrastructure would serve as a hub for empowering participants “with skills and all they need to survive, whether within Nigeria or outside the country.-
He said the agreement builds on outcomes from the BANC Foundation’s Anti-Irregular Migration Summit in Abuja last year, which introduced the Irregular Migration Skills Acquisition and Resource Centre.
According to him, both initiatives underscore BANC’s guiding principles of Brotherhood, Advocacy, Networking, and Congruence.
He said beyond the Babcock alliance, BANC has also partnered with Abiola Ajimobi Technical University (Tech-U), where vocational programmes in automobile technology, woodwork, and the built environment are already underway.
These programmes, he noted, provide participants with certification and legitimate pathways to overseas employment and helping them avoid exploitation by unregulated agents while creating viable options at home.
