Migration Profile on Nigeria - IOM Publications - International ...

place of birth at an unspecified time to the present place of interview at another
time. Contrary to this, period migration measures the difference in the migration
that occurred at a specified time interval, in the NESMUWA survey (1988–1993),
that is, between the previous place of residence as of 1988 and present place of
residence in 1993. The off-diagonal values give the net lifetime migration or the
net period migration rate, as the case may be.
A major distinctive pattern in the internal migration is the shift of the net
lifetime migration towards the west central geo-administrative zone, within
which the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja is located. The major conventional
absorbing zone is still the south-west zone, with Lagos metropolitan area being
the dominant gaining centre of the net lifetime and or period migration; while
the major losing geo-administrative zone is the south-east geo-political zone.
In addition, Figures 11 and 12 depict the major entry points for international
migration at the south-west, north-west, north-east and south-east borders,
in descending order of importance (Udo, 1997; Afolayan, 1998). The figures
also clearly show the pull effect of the then newly established Federal Capital
Territory of Abuja.
The most recent and comprehensive national migration data on stocks are
expected from both the Population Census and Housing Census of 2006 and the
Post Enumeration Survey of the 2006 Census, once they have been analysed.
The PES schedule also has additional variables, which could yield data on other
forms of migration, in particular child fostering and child trafficking.
c.1.1 Total number of immigrants
Nigeria remains a strong attractive pole for immigrant populations. Table 5
shows that the total number of the stock of immigrants increased over the years.
This is reflected in the volumes, namely 101,450 for 1963 and 477,135 for 1991
(NPC, 1998). The volume further increased to 751,126 by 2000 and 972,126 by
2005. It is estimated that in 2010 the immigrant stock residing in the country will
further increase up to 1.1 million people (see Table 12 in annex) (UNPD, 2009).
In addition, the percentage of immigrants to the total population of
Nigeria increased from 0.6 per cent in 2000 to 0.7 per cent in 2005. Females
represent an increasing component of the immigrant population in Nigeria. In
fact, gender disparity narrowed, dropping from 56.2/43.8 per cent in 1990 to
54.4/45.6 per cent in 2000 and further down to 53.5/46.5 per cent in 2005.
The immigrant annual growth rate remains very high, although stable. Between
48 <strong>Migration</strong> in Nigeria: A Country <strong>Profile</strong> 2009