COMPOUNDING WOMEN’S PROBLEMS, SOUTH-NORTH MIGRATION AS A MEANS OF ESCAPING POVERTY IN AFRICA, NIGERIA AS A CASE STUDY.
Bashir Olabode*
University of Ibadan
INTRODUCTION
Rena Singer of the American Christian Science Monitor (February 26, 2002) estimates that 15 million Nigerian (More than 1 in 10 Nigerian) live abroad, these figures are validated by other sources such as Africa action, they recently wrote that, "No one knows the exact numbers, but it is estimated that as many as 15 million Nigerian live out side the country, in neighboring countries across the African continent, in Britain and throughout commonwealth, in other European countries, and in many Asian countries as well”.
These Nigerians, now generally referred to as Nigerians in the Diaspora are activity engaged in different profession as practing professional in their host countries or ‘new found home’s some of these professions are medical and health care, banking and financial services, journalism and media teaching and education, engineering, information technology, computing sciences and sports. They also engaged in other activities as small business owners’ private security guard, train taxi and bus drivers etc.
This paper will use Nigeria as a case study for South-North Migration. The paper will also seek to define who a professional is and identify common denomination as to what makes a person a professional, also the paper will attempt to define migration and poverty with a view to placing the Nigerian professional in the diaspora with in a globally acceptable realm of understanding and framework, finally the paper will describe the long term effect of South-North migration or brain-drain or women.
DEFINITION OF TERMS
Nigerian: In the context of this paper, the word Nigerian refers to any person born in or outside Nigeria and of Nigerian parenthood.
Professional: Any person engaged in or working in any field which fulfills the following criteria as classified by Downie (1990): Must have years of training, have an appointed body supervising entry qualifications, negotiating pay and conditions of service for its members, and imposing discipline, must have a code of ethics and also have an annual conference.
Diaspora: this refers to any people or ethnic population that resides in other lands and countries, different from that of their origin.
The history of man is rife with movements to change of residence within and across territorial boundaries. These movements involve detachment from the organization of activities over space and time. This phenomenon is termed migration, although not all spatial movements are qualified as migration. Migration, as one of the three main population processes (along with fertility and mortality) is less appreciated and more difficult to assess, though its effects remain profound. Hence, Weeks (1992) asserts that migration can profoundly alter a community or an entire country within a short time. The socio-economic stability and development of any country therefore depends, to large extent, on her population composition and the dynamics of population distribution.
This lends credence to the study of international migration, which involves change of residence within international boundaries. The major cause of migration from Africa to developed countries of the word is poverty.
Poverty:- Is a world wide phenomenon, which plagues every nation of the world, although it is more pronounced in some countries than others. It had become such an issue that quite a number of studies and reports have been documented to address. Poverty could be absolute or relative. Absolute poverty relates to lack of physical minimum requirement for persons or households for existence while relative poverty is a state where the person or household provision of goods and service is lower than that of other persons in a particular society.
THEORETICAL ASSUMPTIONS
It is important to underpin a paper of this nature in relevant theories, this helps in acknowledging previous work done in this or related areas, this will also provide a clear pathway in pointing a direction for the paper, at the end of which some of the theories may either be challenged or uphold based on new information.
The first theoretical assumption of this essay is the social responsibility theory, this originated in America around the 1940s and was previously associated and applied only to the media, however as a result of the rise in the power of the professions and professionals, the theory began to be applied to all professions and professionals in he different fields of human endeavours metamorphosing into corporate social responsibility in the corporate and business sectors. The basic assumptions of the theory as applied to the professions are that professionals have a wider social function beyond their call of duty to comment on and contribute to public policy and welfare.
Professionals should accept and fulfill certain obligations to their society. The society and the public have a right to expect high standards of performance form the professionals.
The second theoretical assumption underpinning the essay is the Development Theory, just like the social responsibility theory, the development theory was originally applied only to media practice, it was formulated as a result of discrepancy in expectation from the media in the developing countries, compared to the developed countries, this theory was therefore considered to be most appropriate and suitable as it look into consideration the development needs of the development countries. Such expectations do not just apply only to the media, but also to the professions, the development theory proposes that the professions should accept and carry out positive development tasks. In the light of this, the paper will therefore assume that Nigerian professionals in the developed world can contribute to nation building
Reviewed of Related Literature
Ajibewa and Akinrinade (2003:3) identified some of the factors that encouraging south-north migration or brain-drain to include growing unemployment or underemployment stagnation or decrease in earnings for those employed, disappearing job security, increasing poverty, reduction in access to health care, education, public transportation, housing elimination of public benefits or safety net’s for those without access to employment, increasing marginalization and exclusion. In addition, they also submit that there are also other things that provoke demographic mobility, such as development in communications and transportation technology, which have facilitated travel.
Writing on the importance of Diasporas, Ninian Smart cited in Vertovee and Cohen (1999: 288-290) agrees and says that: In many of these diasporas, there is an element of exile. In some cases it is the harsh economic realities in which overseas communities have grow up in other cases political persecution has driven folk abroad. And also that people have migrated without extreme pressures for reasons of economic opportunity. He went on to assert that in the last twenty-five years a different dynamic has also been important, travel has become much easier, so over rather poor communities can maintain cultural contact with the homeland more easily.
Nigel Harris (1985:85), cited in Ajibewa and Akinrinade (2003:3) asserts that increased migration is inevitable in an integrating world economic, that is increasingly characterized by widening in equalities between rich and poor nation Ajibewa and Akinrinade (ibid) also quote from Lenin’s thesis, which state that migration is a function of the law of uneven development caused by capitalism and that the high level of technological development attained by industrialized countries confer on their people and workers in particular, a high level per capital income which attracts migrants (labour) from less developed countries.
Nigeria is one of these developing countries with high migration of diasporan population all over the world, this however was not always so, according to kombo Mason Braide (2003) Before the end of the first Nigerian civil war (1967-1970). Despite affirmative action by the L.B.J. government very few Nigeria bordered to reside permanently in the United State of America, mainly because of institutionalized racism, and perceived crime level in that country Kombo’s statement captures exactly the prevailing condition at the time as Niseria witnessed an oil boom during the 1970s, infrastructure development was still high on government agenda at the time, universities were still centers of excellence and students were recruited by companies and organization while still in their final year of study. It was during this period that the Nigerian government was credited with the statement that money was not Nigeria’s problem, but how to spend it.
Nigerian at this time only went abroad for holidays and for studies. Things however took a downward trend in the eighties and nineties, the global economic depression hit home in Nigeria, couple with widespread social and political unrest these periods witnessed the successive repressive military regimes which largely impoverished Nigerians and thus opened the floodgates for their much exodus.
Continuing, Braide (ibid) write that following a long succession of predatory military autocrats in Nigeria, most Nigerians that ‘Checked out’ (for the United State of America, and other Countries) did so mainly out of sheer frustration with the widespread non-conducive and supportive environment in Nigeria, just like it was for Irish, and Italian Immigrants that left Ireland and Italy earlier, for the United State of America, particularly during moments of protracted national catastrophes ( like plagues, and famine).
During this person also, most Nigerians that had originally gone abroad to study with the hope of going back to Nigeria on complexion of their studies never did, choosing to stay back in their new adopted countries. Braides views are supported by Ajibewa & Akinrinade (ibid), they write that the Babangida regime in Nigeria (1985-1993) Contributed to the massive emigration of Nigerians to other lands in two major ways. First was the introduction of the IMF-Inspired structural Adjustment programme (SAP), and that the regime provoked massive emigration of Nigerian citizens with its dishonest implementation of its political transition programme that failed to reach its expected conclusion after more than eight years and the expenditure of billions of naira.
Ajibewa & Akinrinade (ibid) also give other reasons for demographic mobility and human development as the brain drain syndrome and the search for economic and social mobility by professionals in various spheres: the search for educational and training opportunities by many young people consequent upon the destruction of educational systems in many Africa States. According to them, these latter categories (professionals) have sought abode in countries outside the continent particularly in Europe and North America.
REASONS FOR SOUTH-NORTH MIGRATION/REASONS FOR LEAVING NIGERIA.
Most Nigeria left the country for education purposes but, it will be important to distinguish amongst those Nigeria that left Nigeria in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s solely for the purpose of studying abroad, and those that came later who were rather driven out of Nigeria by the worsening economic conditions, the latter however needed to acquire new skills in their new found countries through retraining and getting further education in order to function effectively in the new countries. Another distinguishing feature amongst the two categories of Nigeria emigrants are that, those that left Nigeria in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s solely for the purposes of acquiring western education with a view to going back to Nigeria eventually, were sponsored at the time by either by the government of Nigeria or the government of the host countries under one of their scholarship, student aid and grant schemes, (these however seem to have either stopped or have become more competitive) or they solely sponsored by their families who could still remit money to them because at that time, the Nigerian economy was still fairly strong and stable and the Nigerian currency (the Naira)was still very strong or even stronger than Dollar or the pound. The later day emigrants on their part left Nigeria at a time of economic depression and had to work or ‘hustle’ to support their families back home and all themselves, (Including paying tuition fees),
This later period witnessed a reversal of future of sorts for both the emigrants and their families. And this is consistent with what Bride (ibid) wrote concerning Nigeria emigrants:
For the Nigerian Immigrants, the primary maturation for migration was economic survival (not educational advancement, as most Nigerian immigrants did in earlier generations). In most cases the physical, emotional, material and financial costs of leaving Nigeria were disproportionately high, considering their very low incomes, low employment opportunities, near zero job mobility, escalating inflation, excruciating and dehumanizing visa application procedures. For some of them who left Nigeria for ‘ greener pastures’ in the USA the EU, the middle East, South Africa, their bitter memories of those dismal moments in their lives during the predatory dictatorships of Buhari, Babangida, Shonekan, Abacha,and Abubakar), can not be wiped out easily. They are simply bitter, and are rightly so.
In 1984, the then military government of Buhari and Idiagbon, conscious of the growing phenomenon of mass emigration, as well as development of mass emigration, as well as the consequences of the brain- drain syndrome on the socio – economic development of Nigeria mounted series of campaign in the mass media, aimed at promoting nationalism and patriotism and dissuading Nigerians from leaves or ‘checking out ‘ A popular Nigeria action actor ( Enebeli Elebrewa) was drafted to play the role of ‘Andrew” an aspiring immigrant who later saw reasons not to, as he was about to ‘check out’ of Nigeria. While the T.V series became popular with Nigeria, especially because of its humour, it however failed to produce desired result.
GENDER PERSPECTIVE OF SOUTH – NORTH MIGRATION
AS state earlier, poverty engendered South- North migration and indeed, poverty is gender biased (UNDP,190), But in spite of the commonality of the experiences of women the world over, the socio cultural subordination of women in third world nations, Nigeria inclusive, make their own burden more excruciating (Olutayo, 1996). Men still batter their wives without any recourse to law (Udegbe and Omololu 1997): Men commit bigamy but women are discouraged from taking legal actions, Men rape their wives since they are perceived as properties to be used as the owner deems fit: female gentle mutilation is still common without any consideration for the person’s feelings (Ebomoyi,1987, Owumi’ 1994}: forced are forced to marry at unripe age contrary to their will resulting in vesico vagina fistula (VVF) and left to cater for themselves { Balogun, 1995}.Widow are not well protected by law (Potash, 1986}, they are according to a retired Justice of the federal Republic of Nigeria, treated as chattels in some Nigerian communities: and so on.
Furthermore, female adult illiteracy is higher in the third world than in the developed world. For instance “ the proportion of the (female) population over the age of fifteen who cannot, with understanding, read and write a short simple statement on their every day life “ as about illiteracy is defined by the world development report (1995: 231). Is 61% for Nigeria while most developed countries have less than 5% and some even zero as at 1990. Only 17% of the female population had secondary school education in Nigeria as all 1999 while more developed national have not less than 70% of their female population in this category ‘ the maternal mortality rate for Nigeria was 800 out of every 100,000 live births between 1988-1993 as distinct from what obtains in most developed nations in which material mortality is almost non-existent.
With these, amongst others, it is glaring that the under-development or even the poverty status of Nigeria is not unconnected with the low status of women in Nigeria. Since their level of education is low, they cannot contribute significantly to the capitalist economy and most of their contributions would not be calculated as part of the gross domestic product. In fact, women’s work is not ‘work’ since they are not remunerated for most of what they do. This is why Rowbotham (1992) asserted that while women do about two-thirds of the world’s work, they receive less than one tenth of the world’s income. In spite of the fact that they produce most of the food crops, especially in developing countries and do the bulk of the processing ( Asworth and Bomeya, 1988), they earn little or nothing when compared to men’s earnings. They have unequal access to nutrition, healthcare, and so on. Coupled with all the aforementioned problems facing women in the third world countries is also the problem created by South – North migration making the burden of Nigerian women more excruciating.
Nigeria is a patriarchal society. By patriarchal, Gray (1982:19) means “…… a culture that is slanted so that men are valued a lot and women are valued less: or in which men’s prestige is up and women prestige is down. In Nigeria the patriarchal culture make it difficult for women to realize their rights; especially where women and their partners have little or no education. Within marriage women are expected to obey their husbands and it is culturally accepted that disobedience merits chastisement. This even has recognition in the penal code applicable in northern Nigeria.
Men also tend to hold powers of decision marking in the family and in a situation where the family has seen battered by economic hardship. Man has the lead of the household may decided to “check out” of the country leaving the woman and the children. In fact it is not culturally allowed for women to migrate outside the country leaving the husbands.
On reaching their new abode, most of the migrate forget their families back home, due to the challenge they usually face; At time life may not be bed of roses as they’re thought initially, and because some them are illegal migrants. They do anything to secure permanent residence, such as marrying of a citizen of that particular place. At this stage some may not even ready to going back to their home countries, they left the wife to cater for children, in spite of the high poverty rate battling with wife (ves) back home.
Prior to this time, when the extended family network was still functional, the women problems and ordeals would have taken care by the members of the extended family. But this type of family has collapsed due to modernization and westernization. The situation is most extreme in the case of women in purdah, who are not allowed to go out, either to work, visit health facilities to obtain ante-natal or post-natal care, or for delivery. This is one of the reasons why many women, particularly in the north, deliver at home, either with the assistance of TBAS or with no assistance at all, such restrictions on women’s access to formal health services tend to prevent problems being detected in time, contributing to the high rates of maternal mortality. Remarkably, even some medical establishments require spousal consent before they carry out operations to save a woman’s life. Likewise, although sterilization is legal in Nigeria, spousal consent is invariably required for female sterilization. And in a situation where the husband has migrated northward, the life of the wife is usually endangered. This double standard further subordinates the position of the woman.
Furthermore, there arises a situation whereby the woman in purdah because of the hard economic situation, and because the migrated husband has neglected her, will be forced to engage in prostitution locally and internationally (women Trafficking) which eventually culminated into contact ion of sexually transmitted disease such as HIV/AIDS and that can parts explain the reasons why women living with HIV/AIDS out numbered men living with the virus. And because a man is expected to provide for the upkeep of his wife and children, this had made Nigeria women to live a life of indulgence or are completely dependent on their husbands for maintenance, and because the survival of the children depends to a large extent on the resourcefulness of women particularly in polygynous households, hence the women’s face a lot of problems after the husband had migrated northward.
CONCLUSION
I have tried in this paper to analyze how poverty engendered migration northward from Nigeria. I also take pain to explain how women are double dazed on this type of migration; the challenges facing by these migrants were identified. The approaching trend of Nigerian professional going abroad still continues, this is because of the existence in Nigeria of harsh economic condition and other variables which drive professionals to seek for better opportunities abroad. It is my opinion that there is not much the government of Nigeria can do to stem the outflow of human capital also known as brain-drain this is because, with the advent of globalization, faster means of communications and easier travel access, Nigerian professionals, just like their counterparts in other countries will continue to avail themselves of the better opportunities that may exist in other countries, labour in the context of globalization is a migratory resource, this therefore appears to be the key motivation of these professionals, who will rather regard their sojourn abroad as brain gain for Nigeria rather than brain drain. However, the Nigerian government can only seek for ways to build a viable and rewarding relationship and partnership with these professional, in Diaspora.
Moreover, government must tackle corruption and there must be a serious and concerted efforts to protect known offenders, who are widely believed to have stolen billions of dollars from government treasury and stashed them away in foreign bank accounts. Government should provide security of lives and property, provide social amenities and infrastructures, provide jobs and social security, create an enabling environment, formulate people – oriented policies, make technology the driving force of a future Nigeria, maintain and uphold the rule of law, eradicate poverty, disputes and therefore the issues which lead to complaint. If government can implement all the above suggestion, many migrant will come home and many will restrain from the temptation of "checking out" also, the return migrants can contribute significantly to the development of their country, based on their experience.
BIBILOGRAPHY
Adepoju .A. (1981). "Migration and social Economic Change in Tropical Africa" In: Jorge Balan(ed) Why people Move. Pans: UNESCO
Bilsborrow, R.C.A.S. Oberai and G.Standing (1984) Migration surveys in Low Income countries. London: ILO/WEP
Shaw, R.P. (1989). Migration theory and facts. A review and Bibiliography of current Literature. Philadephia Regional Science Research Institute.
Uche Nworah (2005) Study on Nigerian Diaspora on-line publication.
*Olabode Bashir has a Masters from University of Ibadan, Nigeria. He is currently pursuing a doctorate degree at the same university (Dept of Sociology) Mr Olabode Bashir lectures at The Polytechnic Ibadan, Saki Campus, University of Calabar Study Center Saki, and Ambrosse Alli University, Saki study center. He also worked with State Emergency Relie fAgency Jigawa State. He has been attending International conferences. His article appeared in Enviroscope, Journal of the Polytechnic Ibadan. He co-published two texts on sociology and government. Olabode Bashir can be reached at Olabodebasheer@yahoo.co.uk.
index of 2005 Conference papers
|
