Shine Your Eyes, We Didn’t Ask Buhari For 1m Migrants —Canadian Embassy

The High Commission of Canada to Nigeria has faulted an online
story claiming that the Canadian Government had petitioned
President Muhammadu Buhari, asking him to release one million
Nigerians for the Canadian government to fill six million job
vacancies.

The High Commission, via its official Twitter handle
@CanHCNigeria, warned, “If you see a story online about moving to
Canada that seems too good to be true – shine your eyes
well-well.”

The warning was in response to a story titled, “Canada’s Prime
Minister begs Nigeria President for one million immigrants,”
published by an online platform and re-published and wildly
circulated on the social media.

The online publisher of the news which the High Commission of
Canada to Nigeria has since declared completely fake, had
alleged:

The Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, has pleaded with
Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari, to allow one million
Nigerians enter Canada under a new Employment and Migration
Programme designed for immigrants.

According to Trudeau, immigrants from Nigeria have been a strong
force in Canada’s growth in all sectors of its economy.

“We can’t undermine or overlook the contribution of immigrants
in Canada’s development especially our brothers and sisters from
Nigeria”, Trudeau said.

The PM added that, over the past three years, Canada has granted
residency to all Nigerians who were illegally living in Canada and
applied to remain.

“We granted them and urging everyone to apply. It’s good we
document everyone to know how many people we are to cater for”, he
said.

In a memo sent to the Nigeria High Commission in Canada, the
Employment and Migration Programme will allow Nigerians wishing to
live in Canada to first obtain job before traveling to the
country.

“The programme’s website will be launched next week and all
available jobs will be listed. Currently there are over 6 million
vacancies and we are hoping that Buhari allows at least one million
people from Nigeria”, a spokesperson for the Canadian Labour
Department, Shadrack Scott said.

The High Commission of Canada to Nigeria, in response, warned,
“If you’ve seen this link on your social media timeline, don’t fall
for it.

“This story is not true.

“For REAL information about travelling to Canada, go to
http://www.cic.gc.ca.”

The Commission added, “Over 4,200 Nigerians were approved for
permanent residency in Canada in 2017, which is almost double the
number from the year prior.

“Nigerians in Canada make important contributions to both
countries.”