Poverty and Youth Migration Out of Nigeria: Enthronement of Modern Slavery

Abstract

International migration, which is the movement of people across national borders, is a regular occurrence. Many reasons have been adduced for youth migration abroad. These youths are sometimes confronted by severe problems. However, those factors that force youths to risk their lives are persistent. The study therefore sought to determine factors that propel youths to engage in migration in spite of the dangers, as well as the relationship between bad governance, illegal migration and modern slavery. Therefore, the study adopted qualitative research design using in-depth interviews to elicit information from participants. Twenty-five youths from Umuozu community, Isiala-Mbano Imo State, Nigeria were selected through stratified sampling technique. Descriptive statistics was used for data analysis. Findings revealed that youths are aware of the dangers inherent in illegal migration yet, majority of them were willing to risk migrating to foreign countries. This is because of the strength of the push-pull factors. Therefore, youths are likely to make themselves available for voluntary slavery due to increasing rate of poverty. Hence, there is urgent need for governments in Nigeria to institute measures to reduce poverty and educate the youths in order to discourage illegal migration—the foundation for modern-day slavery.