Alternative narratives to illegal migration among young people in Nigeria

Migrants arriving on board the Aquarius ship of SOS Mediterranee, Palermo, Italy Igor Petyx/ETA

Bola is an undergraduate in a Nigerian university who is in her final year while Tunde is a secondary school drop-out, they are both from a poor background. Bola hopes to get a job in order to alleviate the suffering of her aging parents while Tunde hopes to cover his lack of education with prestige and wealth. After growing up hearing about foreign countries where the grass is greener and abundant opportunities. Bola and Tunde decide to leave the country through an “Uncle” who has helped many to leave the country. After coming close to death on 3 different occasions, their “green grass” dreams is dashed with the realization that they had fallen victims to human traffickers, only to be saved when their host country deported them back to Nigeria. The story of Bola and Tunde is one that many other young Nigerian share. In 2016 alone, over 20,000 Nigerians were involved in crossing of the Mediterranean Sea, the most popular travel route for illegal migrants into Europe. Unemployment and low income has been found to be among the reasons many have chosen illegal migration, the poor and deplorable state of the economy has been one of the causes of this. The National Bureau of Statistics puts Nigeria’s unemployment rate at 27.1 percent. Asides the many factors that have caused this, the economic recession and impact of the coronavirus on the economy are among the other factors that are also going to contribute to the number of people that are going to go after “green grass”. 

  Running a business in an environment like this can be hostile as the purchasing power of consumers is at an all-time low. An alternative to salvage the situation is when a market is created between affected nations and other nations that are buoyant economically. The emergence of the digital space is one that has bridged this gap and revolutionized the world, it has affected how everything is done in one way or the other. The presence of the digital space has brought many new opportunities that could give the young people of Nigeria a steady and strong source of income and employment, it is going to reduce the number of people that intend to leave the country through illegal means. 

    Freelancing is an option that allows an individual to provide a service to a client who might be halfway across the world. In a country like Nigeria where employment opportunity is low, the unemployed usually have to subject themselves to moving hence why some contemplate moving out of the country through whatever means that avails itself to them. However, in a position where one possesses the skills that are needed by many, they could simply take the path of a freelancer. One of such high demand skills is digital marketing, content creation and programming. Content creation covers but it is not limited to other skills such as blog writing, brand journalism, copywriting, ghost writing, social media content creation, script writing amongst many others. Content creation is a viable alternative to Nigerian youths who want to leave to who want to leave the country in order to increase their prospects of finding a job. While freelancing or creating contents, one has the opportunity of deciding what job one would do and working on different jobs simultaneously. Digital skills is a pathway to employment in the emerging digital economy, experts project digital skills can reduce Nigeria’s unemployment rate at 23.1 percent rate.

     Programming is a branch under computer science that spans over website development and design, software development, mobile application development and UI/UX. At a point in time, businesses having and running a website used to be a luxury, having a website nowadays is a luxury most businesses cannot afford. Over recent times, as the world population continues to thrive in the utilization of the digital space, there has been an increase in the demand for more website design, application designs, better user interface and experience.  This has created an influx of programmers around the world who now steadily work towards the continuous ushering of the world into the digital world. For one to be a programmer, one does not need to be formally trained for it, all it takes is for one to simply take an online course on a training platform for free or at a substantial fee, a renowned institute or authority usually certifies one on completion of the course. To reduce the unemployment rate across the educated and uneducated class, it could be taught in vocational centers. When this is done, it reduces the number of people whose hope of making ends meet hinges on them absconding the country illegally. GitHub, the world’s largest platform for open source codes which allows for collaboration among programmers listed Nigeria as the fastest growing country on the platform. This only alludes to the realization of many Nigerian youths of the many boundless opportunities that programming provides for them. The success of Nigerian start-ups such as Paystripe, Neohaul, Rise and reQuid technologies also attest to the viability of programming. To cut down on the number of Nigerian youths who would consider leaving the country by whatever means, it is important that programming is inculcated into the educational system at a basic level. It is a wise investment in the present and future of the country.

   Asides the opportunities that have presented themselves in the form of digital skills, there are a number of trainings, aids and grants that is been given to young Nigerians and small medium enterprises. They are all efforts by international organizations, private organizations and the Nigerian government to mitigate the unemployment crisis in Nigeria. They are given in a bid to build skills and encourage local and foreign investments in the economy of Nigeria. One of the ways to steer Nigeria out of its economic mishaps is by engagement and investment in the economy.

    Unemployment is not the only reason why many have chosen the path of illegal migration, other reasons include furtherance of education, reunification with family and health betterment amongst a few. During a study organized by Lanre Olusegun Ikuteyijo on Irregular Migration as Survival Strategy, it was discovered that a vast number of Nigeria’s young people know little or nothing about how to legally leave the country while they displayed their vastness in the act of illegal migration, they also did not know how things such as legislations and permits around working worked in those countries. It is important that one leaves the country as it is recognized under the law if they intend to leave. Most times, leaving the Most times, leaving the country is as simple as applying or renewing one’s passport, applying for a visa, planning for the flight cost and doing research on the destination country to find out more about things like accommodation, transportation and feeding. One could also simply leave the country on the wings of programmes, scholarships and platforms that prioritize the migration of people with special skills such as students, research workers etc. Example of such platforms and scholarships include European Union Blue Card Work Visa Scheme, Chevening scholarship etc. there are myriads of scholarship programmes that prioritize the assimilation of students into the universities in their countries.

    Of all the reasons to leave the country, whether it be unemployment, insecurity, education, health etc. it is important one pursues such under the confines of the law. Unemployment being the most cited reason for illegal migration pulls with it a lot of Nigeria’s young, tackling unemployment will in turn tackle the illegal influx of Nigeria’s young into these countries. The advent of the digitization of the world has created new and lasting opportunities that solve the problem of unemployment. Digital skills not only help the economy, they also bridge the gap between the demand of high demand digital skills and the supply. This gap can be mended through freelancing. Freelancing is a new world situation that gives a seller of services and goods autonomy as to who, where and how they offer their services. One of such high demand digital skills is content creation, one has the advantage of also working on many jobs simultaneously. Another of such skills is programming, to run a successful business in the 21st century it is basic one targets everyone who has either a smartphone, tablet or laptop. A huge number of the population falls under this category, hence one’s goods and services must find its way of being on these services either through a website, application, blogposts, adverts etc. programming is the way to bring all these target to fruition. Digital skills and high demand skills should be inculcated into the education of young Nigerians at a basic level. Grants can also be given to young entrepreneurs and small medium enterprises to help them run their businesses, this keeps the thoughts of illegal migration at bay as employment and sources of income has been made available to this Nigerians. Leaving the country should be envisioned from the confines of the law or with the help of organizations that are interested in people with special skillsets, such organizations should be patronized to facilitate easy and legal migration. The youths of Nigeria can be shielded from the risks associated with illegal migration by pursuing it from a legal standpoint, if the issue of unemployment is sorted, illegal immigration rates will also drop.