The EU sealed a migration deal with Nigeria. But what did Abuja get in return?

Details of the EU's “milestone” migration deal with Nigeria remain unclear, two days after it was signed in Abuja by EU Commissioner Magnus Brunner and Nigeria's Foreign Affairs Minister, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT After a decade of negotiations, Nigeria agreed on Tuesday to readmit its nationals residing illegally in European countries, as the EU seeks to speed up the return of irregular migrants. The agreement establishes “rapid and effective procedures” for returning Nigerians who have no right to stay in an EU country, a pressing issue for the bloc, since only one in three irregular migrants is actually sent back. Accounts vary over what Nigeria secured in return for the agreement. According to local press, the EU pledged almost €100 million in additional funding for migration management and security cooperation. The Nigerian newspaper The Sun, in a report shared on X by the EU delegation in Abuja, attributed the pledge to Johannes Luchner, deputy director general of the Commission’s department for Migration and Home Affairs. According to these reports, the money would finance legal migration pathways for Nigerians into the EU, as well as anti-trafficking and anti-drug initiatives. The Commission maintains that the agreement is not “a transactional exchange of concessions.” “It is part of a broader mutually beneficial partnership between the EU and Nigeria. [...] This is one important step in strengthening our partnership, which is based on mutual trust, shared responsibilities, reciprocity, and common interests,” a Commission spokesperson said on Thursday in response to a question from Euronews. In a statement, Brunner offered little detail on the agreement, saying only that the EU and Nigeria were “turning the huge potential of [their] partnership into mutual benefit.” Nigeria's Foreign Affairs Minister and the EU Delegation to Nigeria have yet to respond to Euronews' requests for comment. The EU has already committed €731 million in grant funding to Nigeria for 2021-2027. Many Nigerian migrants reach Europe through the dangerous Mediterranean route. Nigerians were the largest national group among irregular arrivals in Italy in 2017 and 2018, but their numbers have dropped significantly since then. Eurostat does not publish figures on the current number of Nigerians residing irregularly in the EU countries. The agreement is part of a broader effort to raise the share of migrants who are effectively returned after an order to leave. That rate remains around 30%, despite a slight increase in recent months. Under international law, countries are obliged to readmit their own nationals. However, African governments have often resisted such returns or delayed the process. To step up cooperation with third countries, the EU is using incentives and leverage across sectors, including visa policy, trade and financial support. Foreign governments, for their part, ask in exchange for substantial visa facilitation or large financial packages. The EU currently has 18 readmission agreements, most of them with Asian and Western Balkan countries. A 2014 agreement with Cape Verde was the bloc's first with an African nation, but subsequent negotiations with Morocco and Tunisia have stalled. Some EU member states have negotiated bilateral agreements to return irregular migrants residing on their territory. The EU as a whole has increasingly turned to non-binding arrangements, such as those with Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Ethiopia, or to broader strategic partnerships, such as the memoranda of understanding signed with Tunisia and Egypt. Under this deal, EU nationals who lack the legal right to remain in Nigeria can also be returned. The agreement still needs approval from EU member states and the European Parliament.