Return migration and the challenges of diasporic reintegration in Nigeria

Agaptus Nwozor, Segun Oshewolo, John S. Olanrewaju, Modupe Bosede Ake and Onjefu Okidu

Third World Quarterly, 2022, vol. 43, issue 2, 432-451

Abstract: Nigeria is among the countries in Africa with the largest emigrant population as well as an impressive pool of annual remittances. Despite the importance of remittances in the matrix of national development, they are no substitute for the expertise and skills needed to drive the various sectors of the economy. Thus, since 1999, successive Nigerian governments have emphasised return migration as an important strategy to mainstream its diaspora into national development. In this vein, diverse policy efforts have been initiated to ensure its actualisation. The paper interrogates the continued currency and feasibility of return migration in the face of transnationalism and diasporic integration dilemmas. The paper uses qualitative data generated from primary and secondary sources to critically examine Nigeria’s migration architecture. It finds that return migration is fraught with several integration dilemmas for returnees as they are confronted with adjustment crises on return. The paper contends that the transnational character of the Nigerian diaspora necessitates the adoption of policy options that recognise the universality of their contributions and thus do not require their relocation to the country.

Date: 2022
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/01436597.2022.2026216 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:ctwqxx:v:43:y:2022:i:2:p:432-451

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/ctwq20

DOI: 10.1080/01436597.2022.2026216

Access Statistics for this article

Third World Quarterly is currently edited by Shahid Qadir

More articles in Third World Quarterly from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().