Poverty and Youth Migration Out of Nigeria: Enthronement of Modern Slavery

Abstract

International migration, which is the movement of people across national borders, is a regular occurrence. Many reasons have been adduced for youth migration abroad. These youths are sometimes confronted by severe problems. However, those factors that force youths to risk their lives are persistent. The study therefore sought to determine factors that propel youths to engage in migration in spite of the dangers, as well as the relationship between bad governance, illegal migration and modern slavery. Therefore, the study adopted qualitative research design using in-depth interviews to elicit information from participants. Twenty-five youths from Umuozu community, Isiala-Mbano Imo State, Nigeria were selected through stratified sampling technique. Descriptive statistics was used for data analysis. Findings revealed that youths are aware of the dangers inherent in illegal migration yet, majority of them were willing to risk migrating to foreign countries. This is because of the strength of the push-pull factors. Therefore, youths are likely to make themselves available for voluntary slavery due to increasing rate of poverty. Hence, there is urgent need for governments in Nigeria to institute measures to reduce poverty and educate the youths in order to discourage illegal migration—the foundation for modern-day slavery.

Japa Syndrome: Environmental and Socio-Economic Factors as Drivers of Mass Emigration of Nigerian Youths

“…This means that if the environmental and socioeconomic variables such as insecurity, poor environmental conditions, violence, insurgents, occupation, education, income, and standard of living are looking good, there will be less emigration of youths from the country. This result agreed with the findings of Nwosu et al (2022) who stated that youths were pushed to emigrate when they were poverty-stricken, particularly when their income level fell below the average obtained in their immediate community.…”

“Japa”: An Exploratory Study of the Roles of Social Media in an Out-Migration Trend in Nigeria

“…These include socioeconomic, environmental, and political factors; the meso factors include diaspora kinship affinities, effects of armed banditry due to political destabilization, and, in recent times, digital social media alluring appeals of better opportunities in Western countries; and micro factors such as religion, education, and marital considerations are also responsible for these migration patterns (Castelli, 2018). Migratory behaviours in Africa are linked to the push factors of unemployment, political instability, poverty, infrastructural decay in home countries, economic opportunities, and the pull of enticing promises of better facilities at the destination countries (Nwosu et al, 2022). Recently, a 2014 United Nations Children’s Fund/Global Migration Group report has seen noticeable increases in youth migration, including the search for better means of livelihood, quests for further education, family reunion, gender-based violence, natural disasters, wars, and supra-national crises (UNICEF, 2014).…”