CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1       Background of Study

Globally, the nexus between migration and development has remained an issue under vigorous academic debate. Therefore, the process of people migrating to other areas in search of a better life is not a novel one. What has however gained currency is the increasing voluntary movement in quest of better quality of life by low-skill and low-wage workers as well as high-skill and high-wage workers from less developed rural areas to more developed urban areas, especially among the poor in the developing countries.

In this regard, rural-urban migration results from the search for perceived or real opportunities as a consequence of rural-urban inequality in wealth. This inequality and/or urban bias in development according to research findings over the years results from the overwhelming concentration of wealth, assets, purchasing capacity, economic activities, and variety of services in the urban centres as well as the continued neglect and degradation of rural environments or areas .

Migration has also been identified as a survival strategy utilized by the poor, especially the rural dwellers. The assessment of the effects of migration on rural areas has remained relevant since migration acts as a catalyst in the transformation process of not only the destiny of individual migrants but also the conditions of family members left behind, local communities, and the wider sending regions. One significant source of development for the rural populace as a result of this increasing drift towards the cities is remittances. Recently, migrants’ remittances and the income multipliers they create are becoming critical resources for the sustenance strategies of receiving households as well as agents of regional and national development. Households that receive these remittances tend to use the proceeds primarily for current consumption (food, clothing) as well as investments in children’s education, health care, improvement in household food and security, and water and sanitation. Nevertheless, the ability of remittances to compensate the labour shortage in rural areas is still a function of the amounts and value of remittances received by migrants’ households at home, especially in the developing countries.

Consequently, the effects of rural-urban migration in the rural places of origin of migrants may be manifest in two ways. First, the rural-urban migrants send remittances to their relatives in the rural areas and these remittance-receiving households use the remittances for various purposes. Secondly, these rural-urban migrants execute various rural developmental projects in their rural areas of origin. In Nigeria, most migrants coming from a particular rural community to live in an urban area usually form rural community associations in the urban area. These community associations in the urban areas articulate, from time to time, the developmental needs of their rural communities of origin and contribute resources to execute projects such as road construction and the award of educational scholarships to students in the rural areas.

A combination of these rural community projects executed by the rural-urban migrants and the uses of remittances by rural remittance-receiving households serve as indicators of the effects of rural-urban migration on the population concerned. In this regard, and in tandem with contemporary praxis, the paradigm shift in the meaning of development emphasizes personal satisfaction consequent on improvement in the quality of life of the “individual” and/or “population” involved in the developmental process. Accordingly, each population ranks community developmental projects and uses of remittances in the order of importance they believe will ensure their satisfaction and happiness. It is also the existence of these projects and the uses of remittances derivable from the migration process that reflect the level of socioeconomic development that can be traceable to rural-urban migration. Therefore, the combination of these projects by migrants and the various uses of remittances in the past three years, according to the respondents, are what they see as indicators of development in their rural communities.

In different parts of the world, Nigeria inclusive, research has been carried out on the effects of migration on the migrants’ rural communities of origin. Some of these studies include those of Glytsos  in Eastern Europe, Sibanda in South Africa, Azam and Gubert in Mali, Lucas  in Albania and Morocco, Nwajiuba  in Nigeria, Adams in Latin America, McKenzie, Taylor and Mor in Mexico, Sorenson in Somali, Pozo, and the World Bank  in developing countries. However, these studies focus mainly on international migration and on uses of remittances leaving the research that estimates the effects of rural-urban migration on rural communities in developing countries undone.

In other parts of Nigeria, the factors associated with drift of youths from rural to urban areas in Kwara state have been examined. Reference used the logistic regression model to appraise the factors of rural-urban migration into Lagos state while the characteristics and determinants of rural-urban migration in Ajeromi-Ifelodun LGA of Lagos state have also been investigated. Furthermore, the National Living Standard Survey (NLSS) (2004) data collected for rural Nigeria has been used to estimate a multinomial logit model of the economic and demographic determinants of migration and receipt of remittances in rural Nigeria.

From the review of the literature, it is clear that most of the rural-urban migration studies done in Nigeria virtually excluded the effects of these rural-urban migrations on the rural sending communities and are in most cases sample surveys on characteristics and determinants of migration. There is, therefore, a need for studies that will determine the effects of rural-urban migration on rural communities in developing countries especially in Nigeria where rural-urban migration has been on the increase in recent times. The estimation of the effects of rural-urban migration on the rural communities will aid policy interventions by governments and development agencies in their quest to facilitate the development of these rural communities. The purpose of this research is therefore to examine the effects of migration on Calabar municipal of Cross River State.

1.2       STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

There are several problems associated with migration, these problem ranges from

1. UNEVEN DISTRIBUTION OF POPULATION

The urban areas became densely populated at the expense of rural areas

2. CONGESTION

Many urban areas are today congested as a result of mass movement of rural residents into them

3. INCREASED HOUSE RENTS

More people are now chasing the few houses in urban areas which lead to increase in rents.

4. ESCALATION OF UNEMPLOYMENT

Many unemployed people reject job offers in rural areas and move to cities thereby worsening the unemployed situation

5. INCREASE IN CRIME RATE

Many unemployed people who moved away from the rural areas to cities with the hope of getting employment take to crime when their hopes are dashed in order to keep body and soul together

6. AGRICULTURE IS GREATLY AFFECTED

The able-bodied people move to urban areas leaving children and the aged behind in the rural areas to practice agriculture

1.3       RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

1. To study the social and economic impact of migration(emigration and immigration) on Calabar municipal

2. To determine the effect of migration on population explosion

3. To determine the negative and positive effect of migration on Calabar municipal

4. To determine the role of government in the control of migration

1.4       RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. What is the social and economic impact of migration (emigration and immigration) on Calabar municipal?

2. What is the effect of migration on population explosion?

3. What is the negative and positive effect of migration on Calabar municipal?

4. What is the role of government in the control of migration?

1.5       RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

The following null hypotheses were formulated for the purpose of this study;

H01:    There is no social and economic impact of migration (emigration and immigration) on Calabar municipal

H02:    Thereis no effect of migration on population explosion in Calabar Municipal

1.6       RESEARCH ASSUMPTION

For the purpose of this research, it is assumed that there is rural-urban migration existing in Calabar Municipality of Cross River State. This is the assumption driving this research study.

1.7       SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY

The study will be useful to the government and planners in terms of mapping out strategy to control and check emigrant and immigrant in a particular location and to proffer solutions to problems of resource allocation to lead to equal distribution of wealth among populace.

The study will also contribute to existing scope of knowledge and literature and as a reference to researchers working on related topic.

1.8       SCOPE OF STUDY

The study aims at analyzing the social impact of migration in Nigeria with particular reference toCalabar municipal in Cross River state. The study area was chosen base on the persistent number of emigrant and immigrant from border of Cameroon and other state in Nigeria sharing borders with Cross River.

1.9       THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Migration, both internal and international, is a common feature of both developing and developed countries. Internal migration in this context refers to the movement of people within their country of origin (in-migration and out-migration), which could be due to various social, economic and political factors. International migration is the movement of people outside their country of origin (emigration) into another country (immigration). In Nigeria, especially in the south south, both types of migration continue to increase. Migration is an inevitable part of human existence, with a long history. However, its pattern has changed considerably over time, from the search for space, especially in the middle ages, to that of congestion in large cities (rural-urban migration) in the modern age. This is especially so in the last millennium. By 2030 three-fifths of the world’s population is expected to live in urban areas (Stephens, 2000). Migration may be associated with development, urbanization or the forced movement of people fleeing from violent conflict or national disaster.

There are many theories explaining the concept of migration (Boswell, 2002; Crisp, 1999; Russell, 2002; Taylor, 2000; Usher, 2005). However, there are three principal categories of migration theory that concerns this research work: the Macro, Meso and Microtheories. Macro theories emphasize the structural, objective conditions which act as push and pull factors for migration. In the case of economic migration, pull factors would typically include economic conditions such as unemployment, low salaries or low per capita income relative to the country of destination. Pull factors would include migration legislation and the labour market situation in receiving countries. Involuntary displacement would be explained through factors such as state repression or fear of generalized violence or civil war.

Meso theories locate migration flows within a complex system of links between states. Two concepts are particularly important for meso theories: systems and networks. Migration is assumed to occur within a migration system. This is defined as a group of areas linked by economic, political and cultural ties as well as by migration flows. Thus the conditions generating movement are understood as the dynamics of relations between two areas, rather than a set of objective indicators.

Finally, micro theories focus on factors influencing individual decisions to migrate, analysing how potential migrants weigh up the various costs and benefits of migrating (Boswell, 2002). The economic theory of migration seems to be supported by Crisp (1999) and Russell (2002). For instance, Crisp (1999) is based on the scenario of people leaving low or middle income areas and seeking asylum in a more prosperous regions. From this perspective, further questions arise: how are asylum seekers and others able to raise the large amount of cash needed to pay for their journey? To what extent are these resources mobilized by means of remittances, sent by members of the diaspora community? The economic perspective is reinforced by Russell (2002), who examines the issue of remittances and their macro-economic effects on receiving countries. She specifically states that “At a time when foreign aid and foreign direct investment are declining, remittances have evolved as an important source of foreign exchange, when migrant workers remit a portion of their income to satisfy prior family commitments”.

The family angle of migration is articulated by Taylor (2000), who states that typically, although individuals migrate, they do not sever ties with their source households. Source households may pay migration costs and support migrants until they become established at their destinations. Family members who remain behind (often parents and siblings) may reorganize both their consumption and production activities in response to the migrant’s departure, and migrants (often children) typically share part of their earnings with their household of origin through remittances. Continuing interactions between migrants and rural households suggest that a household model would be more appropriate than an individual level model of migration decisions. The vast majority of the world’s migrations originate in rural areas, where most of the world’s poverty is also concentrated. How migration out of rural areas affects those left behind is not only important from a social welfare point of view. In light of the increasing integration of markets, it also may have ramifications for economic growth outside rural areas (e.g. by affecting food production, agricultural exports, the rural demand for manufactured goods and future economic surplus in agriculture available for investment elsewhere in the economy).

1.10     LIMITATION AND DE-LIMITATION OF STUDY

The study was delimited to the impact of migration on the social environment in Calabar municipality, Cross River State. This was chosen because of the increased influx of people to and from the area, in order to analyse its effect (migration) on growth and development of the social environment (infrastructure, social amenities, social systems etc.).  The researcher however, encountered series of challenges in the course of carrying out this study, such challenges include:

Time constraints: The research was faced with time intensive activities which were unable to undertake in combination with academic course works. Accessibility to adequate and reliable data for analysis was one of the limitations of this study. An in-depth study and analysis of the subject was not beeasily conducted since the study was restricted to just one area (Calabar Municipality). Lastly, some of the materials (literature) required for the sourcing of secondary data relevant to the study were not handy even though a concerted effort was made to secure from a valuable sources.

1.11     DEFINITION OF TERMS

Migration: this involves the movement of people from one place to another. This is either movement into a place (Immigration) or movement out of a place

Social Environment: The social environment, social context, sociocultural context or milieu refers to the immediate physical and social setting in which people live or in which something happens or develops. It includes the culture that the individual was educated or lives in, and the people and institutions with whom they interact.

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