“Migration is good. We (Europe) like migration as long as it is legal. We need migration for various reasons. Movement of factors of production is a good thing and labour moving freely is a very good thing,” says Mr Michel Arrion. Mr Arrion, the European Union ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, discloses that there are more Nigerian professionals in Europe than there are in Nigeria and warned that this development can hamper the growth of the country. Mr Arrion revealed this at a conference on National Migration Policy Thematic Areas, organised by United Nations International Organisation for Migration in Abuja, recently. According to him, the European Union (EU) is not disturbed by the migration issue as long as it is legal. “It enhances the movement of factors of production, particularly labour, especially in Europe,” he says. “In Europe and in other western countries, we have this specific issue of aging population. So we need fresh blood in our countries but we have to be careful sometimes about brain drain. “As you know, there are more PhD holders from Nigerian origin in Europe or in America than in Nigeria.” Mr Arrion, however, is worried that attracting the best people out of a nation can detrimental to the development of the nation.’ Dr Abubakar Sulaiman, the Minister of National Planning and Deputy Chairman, National Planning Commission (NPC), agrees with Mr Arrion and says Nigeria is grappling with a wide range of migration issues. “Nigeria, as the most populous country on the continent, grapples with a wide range of migration issues, from internal migration to massive intra and inter-regional migration,” he says. “Migration of highly skilled and unskilled labour workforce, trafficking in persons, Diaspora engagement and remittances amongst others, have shaped the current migratory trends and dominated contemporary migration discourse.” (NAN)