Irregular migration as survival strategy for Nigerian youths

1. B Y
I K U T E Y I J O L A N R E O L U S E G U N
O B A F E M I A W O L O W O U N I V E R S I T Y , I L E - I F E , N I G E R I A
F O R U M O N E X P A N D I N G Y O U T H L E A R N I N G A N D
O P P O R T U N I T Y P A T H W A Y S I N , A N D L I N K E D T O , W E S T
A F R I C A
2 0 1 7
Irregular Migration as Survival Strategy:
Narratives from Vulnerable Youths in
Urban Nigeria

2. INTRODUCTION
 Prevailing socio-economic conditions in Nigeria present apposite
grounds for the youthful population to migrate in search of greener
pastures
 Majority of these youths are unemployed and disempowered
 Many Nigerians resort to migration as a panacea to resolving a myriad
of socio-economic challenges
 This type of movement is mostly in violation of the migration norms of
the destination countries
 This study examines the perception of vulnerable youths in urban
Nigeria on irregular migration as a survival strategy
 The experiences of selected returnee migrants who had left the country
in irregular circumstances were also explored

3. “Europe by
Desert”

4. Data and Methods
 Location of the study
Study was carried out in selected urban centres in 4 states in Nigeria as
follows;
-Lagos (commercial hub and major exit point)
-Ibadan (a foremost nodal town)
-Ile-Ife (cradle of civilisation)
-Benin City (hub of human trafficking)
 Population of the study
- Vulnerable youths comprising young Nigerians who were either
unemployed, in the final year in tertiary institutions, and those engaged
in the one year mandatory national youth service program
- Some returnee migrants who left the country under irregular
circumstances were also covered.

5. Data and Methods
 Sampling and Data Collection
18 focus group discussion (FGD) sessions held with selected vulnerable
youths comprising;
- Unemployed youths
- Youth corps members
- Final year students of tertiary institutions
-Key informant interviews with 7 returnee irregular migrants identified
through snowball sampling
 Ethical Issues
-All participants were well informed about the study objectives and their
consent to participate was adequately sourced.
-Other ethical considerations were followed strictly including non
disclosure of identity, and the confidentiality of all participants

6. Findings and results
 Migration intention (vulnerable/intending migrants)
-Majority of the vulnerable youths expressed their intention to migrate
out the country even through irregular means. Excerpts;
 “I will not miss such great opportunity” (25 year old Male Youth
Corp member).
 “I don’t think there is anything wrong with travelling abroad, so as
for me, I will utilize any opportunity to travel abroad” (29 year old
Female Youth Corp member).
 “Is it worth staying back in this country when you are not sure of
making it? (25 Year old male final year student)

7. Irregular migration as survival strategy
 Migration as survival strategy
-Majority of the participants agreed that irregular migration could serve as an
effective survival strategy in the face economic downturn.
-The idea that ‘the ends justify the means’ was rife among the youths.
Excerpts:
Sincerely, those who migrate outside the country often live far better than we
in Nigeria. They enjoy constant power supply, access to potable water; eat
good diet and to a reasonable extent, they are secure” (29 year old female
unemployed youth).
“I can say that migrants who left Nigeria are living ‘comfortable’ lives
anytime they return to Nigeria because of the exchange rate between the
Naira and Dollar. I know someone like that who left for Spain and he often
lived better whenever he returned to Nigeria, though he confided in me that he
did some menial and dirty jobs in Spain before making it.” (24 year old
unemployed youth).

8. Findings (contd)
 “It’s worth it to help the family whether legal or illegal means. What matters is
that you are helping your family.” (26 year old male final year student)
 Motivation to leave the country (returnee migrants)
-Returnee irregular migrants were asked what factors motivated them to leave
the country. The study revealed the following;
-The general responses reflected the push factors inherent in the Nigerian society.
-Most of them were disillusioned with what the future held for them.
-The incessant disruption of school calendar due to sundry reasons
-Misinformation from social networks and social media about opportunities at
destination countries.

9. Motivation to leave (excerpts)
 “I was hearing some of my friends saying they wanted to travel at the barbing
saloon. So I just decided to go with them. I had the mindset of going to hustle
and make it. I am a footballer and I believed that when I get to Italy, I would
survive.” (20 year old male returnee migrant from Libya).
 “During the first term holiday in my SS one, a family friend told my parents
that he would take me to Italy to continue my education. My parents
succumbed to the idea because they felt that in Italy my education would be
unhindered and my prospect of getting a job after school was higher than in
Nigeria.” (30-year old female returnee migrant from Italy).
 “After seeing some people who had travelled and returned to live flashy
lifestyle or maybe he or she has sent some cars home to their families and
from there you begin to develop the interest of traveling too. You begin to
nurse and plan to go. So as you are planning then you meet the connection
men.” (Young male returnee migrant from Gambia).

10. Motivation to leave (excerpts)
 “Since I had no money to continue my secondary education, I had to drop out
in my SS 2. One Sunday morning, a friend informed me that there was a man
who was looking for young girls to take to Paris. I was told that handwork
like hair dressing was in high demand there and I had learnt how to plait hair
before then. She took me to the man who said he would take us to Lagos to
obtain our passports. Unfortunately, when I asked him to let me inform my
parents, he refused and locked us up in his house till the day the journey was
to commence. He took us to Abuja instead in company of some foreigners.”
(19-year old female returnee from Libya).
 “I know many people who had used the sea route; many of my friends have
gone through the route. Before they left Nigeria, I knew and about two weeks
after they left, an Italian phone number called me and they told me they got
there (Italy) safely. Many boys in my area have gone through the sea.” (20
year old male returnee migrant from Libya).

11. Experiences of returnee migrants
 All the returnee migrants had bitter tales to tell
 The hopes and aspirations which motivated them to leave were a
smokescreen.
 Male returnees paid their ways through the journey using travel
syndicates.
 The girls later realised they had fallen victims of human trafficking
 Most of the young men resorted to the 3Ds (dirty, demeaning and
dangerous) kind of work to survive at destination
 Those who went through the land route all reported having to go
through long and torturous trips in the desert.
 The males returned voluntarily while the female migrants were
deported

12. Experiences of returnee migrants (excerpts)
 “We were moving from one place to the other in the end we spent over 3 hours like from
12 midnight to 3 am. Some people were even lost in the desert.” (20-year old male
returnee migrant from Libya).
 “At a point in time, I worked as a morgue attendant and I even had to serve as a drug
courier sometime to make ends meet.” (young male returnee migrant from
Switzerland).
 “I was a shoe maker in Gambia which I cannot do in Nigeria. I was also into barbing
just to make ends meet.” (young male returnee migrant, from Gambia).
 “We went by Zodiac ship through Morocco. We were 160 girls on three Zodiac ship and
in the middle of the sea, the first and second ship left but our own ship had engine
problem and was almost sinking before another ship came from nowhere to rescue us.
But before the rescue team arrived, 6 girls had died. One died before we entered the
Zodiac. Eventually, only 100 of us made it to the land. We went to a Red Cross camp
and spent a night there. They gave us some hours ultimatum to leave their land, then we
went to Madrid from where our patrons came to pick us.” (30-year old female
returnee migrant from Italy).

13. Discussion and policy related issues
 Social welfare for vulnerable youths
 Intensive efforts at youth empowerment and skills acquisition
programs
 Orientation for youths on alternatives to irregular migration
 Government regulations on misinformation about migration
opportunities rife in the social media
 Community engagement especially targeted at vulnerable youths and
their parents/guardians
 The approach of assisted voluntary return should be revised to enable
stranded youths return
 Ministry of Youths to address irregular migration among youths as area
of priority.

14. Conclusion
 The perception of youths on irregular migration as survival strategy to
escape from the harsh economy in Nigeria has dire consequences
 The need for further studies which will yield effective interventions
necessary to nip the problem in the bud.
 Conscious efforts aimed at introducing measures to educate the youth
on legal migration options and the need for empowerment of the youth
should be emphasized.
 Cherished social values like hard work, honesty and integrity should be
emphasized, while less emphasis is placed on materialism and
ostentatious living.

15. Graphic representation of a disappointed young returnee
migrant

16. THANK YOU!
Acknowledgements
The author appreciates the Qualitative Research Network Africa (Ashesi University,
Ghana) for generously supporting this research. The author also benefited from the African
Initiative of Center for International Governance and Innovation, Canada for a fellowship
to write the report at McMaster University, Canada.
Picture credits: Google