Nigeria is a destination of migration within West Africa and a source of migrants to Europe and the United States. But little data exists that could help policymakers design policies to boost the contribution of migration to national development. Migrants exist in a climate of insecurity that undermines their integration in host countries as well as their contribution to their home country.

Increasingly, developing countries are designing policies to maximise the advantages of migration. Turkey and Morocco have sought to increase remittances, the payments that emigrants send back to their home countries. The Philippines trains professionals for work abroad. A paper from Oxford University, in the UK, considers the challenges faced by migrants coming to Nigeria and Nigerians abroad, and how the Nigerian Government can address them.

Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa, home to large numbers of internally-displaced people and at least 970,000 immigrants. The country has been supplying migrants to Europe since the colonial era. There were an estimated 300,000 Nigerian emigrants in OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries in 2006. However, the perspectives of migrant-sending states, such as Nigeria, have often been ignored within debates on migration and development.

The researcher interviewed policymakers and members of civil society organisations to identify specific obstacles to the development potential of migration for Nigeria. These include:

• the general distrust of immigrants towards the Nigerian state, as a result of years of repression and neglect
• the lack of rights of many recent Nigerian emigrants to Europe
• insecurity, crime and corruption levels that deter Nigerian emigrants from investing in their home country or returning
• the assumption in Nigerian and European policies that migration not only results from lack of development in the home country, but also causes further underdevelopment
• the severe limits on legal migration imposed by Nigeria and European states
• a lack of data about Nigerians living abroad.

The interviewees agreed that Nigeria should create a better environment for development and investment in general, before it can enhance the development contribution of migrants. Entrepreneurs need more guarantees that they can make a profit by investing in Nigeria. It is crucial to build trust between states and migrants.

The Nigerian Government should:

• actively assist and defend the rights of Nigerian migrants abroad (both documented and undocumented)
• build upon the wealth and resources of existing Nigerian immigrant initiatives and avoid government-led initiatives
• protect the personal security and basic rights of its citizens – to turn the ‘brain drain’ into ‘brain gain’ through remittances and knowledge transfers
• work on liberalising migration policies in both European and West African countries to encourage free and circular movement
• encourage banks to design innovative remittance products, for example by enabling mobile phone money transfers, and build up the capabilities of formal financial institutions. 

Source(s):
‘International Migration and National Development: Viewpoints and Policy initiatives in Countries of Origin – The Case of Nigeria’, International Migration Institute Working Papers: Migration and Development Series, Report 6, University of Oxford: Oxford, by Hein de Haas, 2006 (PDF) Full document.

Funded by: Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment

id21 Research Highlight: 27 April 2008

Further Information:
Hein de Haas
International Migration Institute
James Martin 21st Century School
University of Oxford
Mansfield Road
Oxford OX1 3TB
UK

Tel: +44 1865 287306
Fax: +44 1865 287435
Contact the contributor: hein.dehaas@qeh.ox.ac.uk

International Migration Institute, University of Oxford, UK

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