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

countries of origin of irregular immigrants are the former war-torn ECOWAS
Member States and Central African countries.
Emigrants from Nigeria have been increasing at about the same rate as
immigrants. The net migration rate in the last two decades has been negative,
ranging between -0.1 and -0.21. Although emigration and immigration levels
hold each other almost in balance, the skill level of both types of migration
differs considerably: more highly skilled persons leave the country than enter,
thus creating skill shortages in sensitive sectors such as technology and health.
The education system still lacks the capacity to replace the skills that leave the
country. In fact, the number of postgraduates trained at Nigerian universities
has been declining, while the number of Nigerian students studying abroad
has dramatically increased over the past few years. Nigerian students abroad
account for 20 per cent of all enrolments in Nigerian universities. With the
potential negative implications for the country’s human capital base, many of
them remain abroad and become permanent immigrants in their country of
destination (Mbanefoh, 2007).
D.2 identifying the key drivers of migration and possible
future trends
An education system with limited capacities is one of the push factors for
highly skilled emigration. Other push factors relate to the labour market, the
economy more broadly and demographic developments.
Despite the declining official unemployment rates, which dropped from
12 per cent in 2005 to 9.9 per cent in 2008, labour supply is still outstripping
demand and is likely to do so in the near future. Nigeria is one of the ten most
populous countries in the world and has one of the fastest population growth
rates in the world (2.38% in 2008) (Library of Congress, 2008).
Job creation is unlikely to keep pace with demographic growth. An already
restrictive monetary policy, in terms of high interest rates for credit funds, is
limiting the number of prospective borrowers looking to invest in capital-intensive
businesses in the country. Limited access to credit hampers the growth in small-
and medium-scale enterprises and thus their ability to absorb surplus labour.
Unless demographic growth is backed up with adequate economic growth, the
lack of employment opportunities in Nigeria will remain an important driver of
emigration. In addition, the prospect of earning higher wages abroad adds to the
attraction of emigration.
66 <strong>Migration</strong> in Nigeria: A Country <strong>Profile</strong> 2009