Insecurity and migration pattern in the contemporary Nigerian society

Abstract

One of the most glaring and much talked-about issues in Nigeria today is insecurity. The Nigerian society is greeted with several acts of insecurity almost on a daily basis throughout the country. This ugly trend has led to several crises in Nigeria in recent times, posing some threats to the entire masses. These crises arise as a result of insecurity in various facets, especially of lives, properties, foods, amongst a host of others. These forms of insecurity have endangered the value of lives in Nigeria. The timeline of the deadly attacks of the Boko Haram insurgents, religious, ethnic and political crises in Nigeria and her bordering countries during the last few decades is quite alarming. This paper primarily examined the impact of insecurity on migration pattern in the contemporary Nigerian society from 1994 to 2023. The study adopted quantitative approach. Based on the ex-post facto research design, the study applied some descriptive statistical techniques such as the normality distribution test and ordinary least square estimations. The study discovered some of the causes of insecurity such as unemployment/joblessness, poor leadership, porous nature of the borders, and so on. Some of the effects of insecurity include underdevelopment, poverty, hunger, and so on. The study revealed security threat to be one of the factors leading to the high rate of international migration affecting the country in modern times. This paper recommends amongst others that government should provide a proper security/ surveillance measures especially within the border territories to monitor and combat the menace of irregular migrations and its attendant consequences. Furthermore, for the Nigerian State to be safe, the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) has to be efficient in her duties in monitoring the pattern of migration, and also needs the cooperation of the sister’s organizations, as it relates to socio-economic development and security functions in the country.