Lagos City Profile

History of Lagos migrants to the city

The migration into Lagos dates back to the 1830s when many emancipated Africans from countries, including Sierra Leone. Many of them returned to Lagos due cultural, missionary and economic reasons and they resided in the Lagos colony – Olowogbowo, Ebute Metta and Yaba. Another notable history of migrants in Lagos (and Nigeria as whole) is the oil boom of the 1970s, the migrants were mostly from Ghana, Togo and Benin Republic. They settled in settlements like Magodo, Ajah, Oja Oba, etc. The migrants settled in the city until the January, 1983 when an executive order was enacted by President Shehu which forced undocumented immigrants to leave the country or face arrest. Shagari  (source?).

MIGRATION TRENDS AND MIGRANTS’ CHARACTERISTICS

Lagos state, one of the fastest growing cities in the world and the most populous city in Nigeria. The city has a rapid urban growth rate and one of the reasons for the population increase is migration, both internal and cross-border. There are factors that drive the migration – both immigration and emigration.

Key Factors driving Migration and General Cross-Border Mobility

Lagos is one of the biggest metropolitan areas in Africa and plays a pivotal role in the economy of Nigeria. It remains the nation’s commercial nerve center and the focal point of economic activities. The GDP of the state accounted for 26.7% of Nigeria’s total GDP and more than 50% non-oil GDP. The state is home to major financial institutions, construction companies, tech companies and many more. This advantage has attracted many migrants in search of employment and opportunities in “greener pasture”. The booming economy and varied opportunities in the city have been a major factor for many immigrants in the city.

Ironically, despite the high Gross Domestic Product of the state, Lagos is terrorised by social and economic challenges like extreme poverty and high rate of unemployment. A United Nations Report pegged that 80% of the people in Lagos live in poverty and according to the Lagos state Bureau of Statistics, the unemployment rate in the state is 15%. Lagos has a vibrant youthful population and the rising incidence of educated unemployed young people in the city has giving rise to the new trend of “japa” meaning fleeing the city or the country. This phenomenon has increased the level of emigration in the state with people looking for ways to go to other countries to fully utilise their capacity and ability.

Some of the migrants in the city sees Lagos as a transit city – a gateway or stop on their way to other countries. They believe that Lagos state is a viable city to work and hustle to save money to travel to their destination countries like Canada, France, United States of America and others. It is their beliefs that processing visas to these countries from Lagos is also an easy task and a surer way of achieving their goals.

Other factors that contribute to migration in Lagos state include education, most emigrants out of the city leave for education purposes due to the several hiccups in the education system in the country, generally. Others migrate to Lagos as 2^nd or 3^rd generation migrants, meaning they have families already living and working in Lagos and they were advised to come work here or to escape depression and austerity in their country of origin.

Immigration and/or Emigration

Although, there is no statistics on the number of immigrants in Lagos but according to the former Governor of the state, Akinwunmi Ambode, he opined 86 migrants enter Lagos every hour from other parts of the country, continent and the world which is the highest number of daily record of immigrants in the world. Majority of the migrants into the city are from within Nigeria, searching for better jobs and improved standard of life. Other international migrants are from neighbouring West African countries, however some migrants come form United States of America, China and United Kingdom, being employed by foreign business operating in Lagos. Some migrants moved to Lagos, involuntarily as a result of a disaster or conflict.

On the other hand, according to a report published by the Africa Poling Institute in 2021 – 7 out of 10 Nigerians are willing to leave their country if given the opportunity. The emigration from Nigeria, Lagos specifically is to escape poverty in the city and go to countries with more opportunities to offer. Other reasons include education purposes, medical reasons and escape from the rising rate of kidnappings and violent crimes in the city. Report shows that these emigrants move to other African countries, Canada, USA, UK, China and other European countries.

Irregular Migration

Irregular migration includes those that leave or enter the city through illegal routes without going through the proper documentation. Most of these illegal journeys are done via water or through the thick and dangerous forest at the borders. Irregular migration tends to fester in the face of economic adversity. Most of the youth in the city embark on very risky journeys across the globe motivated by economic reasons, family dynamics and social media influence with the belief that “the end will surely justify the means. There has been reports of illegal passengers’ movement from one West African country to the other on the Gulf of Guinea. This has also resulted in increased in crimes like piracy, kidnapping, smuggling, human trafficking and many along the coast line. Also, there are those that enter the city illegally.in 2017, 84 illegal immigrants from Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast and Niger were arrested by the Lagos State Police Command. These immigrants were journeying on the water with the promise of finding greener pasture in Lagos.

KEY MIGRATION LINKAGES

The dominant population that migrates in and out of Lagos is the youth – both young men and women. Most of them are married but in some situations most of their wives and children are left in the country of origin while the husband moves to Lagos. Their main purpose of migrating from their countries is to boost their economic prowess and have the capacity of providing for their families at home. Also, some migrants came to Lagos on a temporary basis for the sole purpose of trading their products in the several markets in the city. It was observed that majority of them came at the behest or request from someone who has been living in Lagos for a while, probably father, aunts, uncles and most times close friends. They travelled by road using public transportation and were not require to show any form of travel documents at borders but most of them have their voter’s card and passport from their country.

Also, the movement of people from Lagos to other countries has been on the rise due to factors like economic purposes, education, family dynamics, escape from poverty and degradation and escape from violent crimes. The emigrants move to other West African countries, African countries and countries in other continents in search of their “Eldorado”.