Italian town to pay Nigerians, others €700 to stay in its villages

Molise, an underpopulated region in Italy, is offering newcomers, including Nigerian migrants, an active residency allowance of €700 per month for three years to live there. 

The town of Caltanissetta in Sicily, Italy, want asylum seekers, who have crossed the Mediterranean from Libya to feel it's vacant homes. What are Nigerians waiting for??? Oya na!

In another region in the south of Italy called Molise, new comers including Nigerian migrants will be given €700 to stay in one of its villages for three months, according to The GuardianUK.

These persons are, however, mandated to open a business and the population of each village is to be kept under 2,000.

We wanted to do more; we wanted people to invest here. They can open any sort of activity: a bread shop, a stationery shop, a restaurant, anything.

It’s a way to breathe life into our towns while also increasing the population. If we had offered funding, it would have been yet another charity gesture, Donato Toma, President of Molise, said.

Toma said if a village can keep its population under 2,000, they will be given €10,000 per month to build infrastructure and hold cultural activities.

The International Organisation for Migration reports that in the second quarter of 2018, Nigerians made up 13 per cent of the migrant population in Italy, a spot it shared with fellow West African state, Guinea.

The offer by the President of Molise is appetising to Nigeria’s Igbo retailers and importers, who build dynasties as well as expand their footprint through informal apprenticeships.