Counselling needs of institutionalised African refugees in Ijebu-Oru refugee camp, Ogun State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study investigated the counselling needs of institutionalized African refugees in Ijebu-Oru refugee camp Ogun State, Nigeria. Simple random sampling technique was adopted to select 500 institutionalized African refugees in Ijebu-Oru refugee camp. “Counselling needs of Institutionalized African refugees questionnaire” (CNOIARQ) was administered to the respondents to collect relevant data. The t-test and analysis of variance (ANOVA) statistics were used to test three generated null hypotheses and where the result of ANOVA showed a significant difference, the Duncan Multiple Range Test (DMRT) statistics was used to determine the group(s) that contributed to the significant relationship. The findings showed that there were no significant differences in respondents’ counselling needs based on gender. Significant differences were, however, found among institutionalized African refugees in their counselling needs based on length of stay in the refugee camp and reason(s) for seeking refuge. Based on the finding recommendations were made. Among the recommendations made were that professional counsellors in Nigeria and the three tiers of government should create conducive environment for refugees by savaging the economy and organize workshops seminars, lectures etc and that professional counsellors should be posted to the various refugee camps in the country to handle the counselling needs of the refugees. Furthermore, the host country of the refugees should make provision for the refugees who might want to integrate into their host community / country.