Nigerians flee in search of greener pastures abroad

Travellers at Murtala International Airport, Lagos

By AYOOLA OLAOLUWA

Nigerians have continued to leave the shores of the country in droves in search of greener pasture, Business Hallmark investigation has revealed.

A reliable source at the Ikoyi office of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS)informed our correspondent that over one million Nigerians have migrated to several countries in Europe, America, Asia, and even Africa, since the advent of the present administration in 2015.

According to him, the figure could be much higher as many Nigerians who leave the country are undocumented immigrants, while the larger percentage of legal travellers who travelled abroad as visitors absconded after the expiration of their visas.

“Since they were not properly captured in their new countries of residence, no one has record of them. They are just floaters. Back home in Nigeria, they are treated as visiting travelers and deemed back in the country at the expiration of their visas”, he said.

Though, findings revealed that Nigerians who daily flee the country do so because of economic hardship, several other reasons are also responsible for the mass exodus.

According to an immigration lawyer based in Lagos, Barrister Olanrewaju Beckley, who spoke to our correspondent, all his clients who engaged him in their quest to travel abroad did so for five major reasons.

He named the reasons as expectation of higher income, career advancement, job opportunities, better education and exposure for their wards.

“The hope of increased income especially for skilled workers is a big reason most people make the move. The income difference between Nigeria and the developed European countries is so large, many are willing to uproot their families to better their economic status.

“Apart from that, there is the quest for career advancement due largely to limited career opportunities in Nigeria, especially for those who hope to pursue careers that are out of the conventional. Artistes and creative people find it easier to grow outside of Nigeria than inside of it.

“There are more job opportunities available for qualified people outside Nigeria than inside it and this is another reason many leave the country.

“In the area of education, while students in Nigeria battle with lecturers, university strikes and a host of other troubles with the educational system, it is a different case in most developed countries. Despite the economic crunch, many parents are still sending their children to schools overseas in their drive to secure second passport and better future for them.

“Lastly, most Nigerian travelers do so in order to expose their children to current trends. Advancements in technological and industrial systems across the world are leaving most Nigerian children behind. Many now leave the country to ensure their kids are not left behind”, Beckley stated.

Mostly affected by the mass exodus is the private sector where bankers, IT, doctors, engineers and other professionals are trooping out of the country. Public sector workers are not left out, with report suggesting top civil servants, even directors, resigning and travelling out of the country.

Several pregnant women also travelled out with the aim of delivering their babies to get them foreign citizenship.

BH investigations show that Nigerians’ choice of destination is Europe and America. According to available statistics, Nigerians, particularly the mobile upper middle class prefer the United Kingdom, made up of Britain, Ireland, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Professionals, such as, medical doctors, nurses, pharmacists, lawyers and engineers’ daily move to the UK because of the many opportunities in the union. In other to secure good education for their wards, their children are also sent to the UK for schooling.

Currently, Nigerian born students dominate the list of foreign students in the UK, according to a 2018 report by the British Council in Lagos.

Apart from the UK and other European countries such as France, Holland, Germany, Italy, Norway, Belgium, and many others, Nigerians also troop daily to the United States. In fact, apart from Nigeria, the second largest concentration of Nigerians is in the US.

However, due to unfavorable immigration policies introduced by the President Donald Trump’s administration, Nigerians are now shifting attention to Canada, which has thrown its doors open to skilled immigrants.

Canada, which has a smaller population than the UK or the US, is at a different stage demographically. To offset the effects of its aging population—seniors outnumbered children in 2016—Canada started an Express Entry program for skilled workers in 2015 to boost its labour force.

Successful applicants receive the holy grail of migration: a permanent residence permit.

Applicants are judged based on several factors including age (those between 21 and 35 stand the best chance), education level, language proficiency and work experience to determine their eligibility for the program.

The entire process, which typically lasted two years when it started, now takes at least six months and it has quickly become popular among middle-class Nigerians. The number of Nigerians admitted into Canada through Express Entry between 2015 and 2016 increased tenfold.

With the program open year-round and no cap on the number of candidates that can apply, the trend will likely continue. Canada hopes to admit 85,000 by 2020. In the first two years of the program, it already admitted over 43,000 applicants and their families.

In 2018, Nigeria came second behind India on the list of countries granted Invitation to Apply (ITA) leading to permanent residency.

It is interesting to note that in 2016, just a year after President Muhammadu Buhari came to power, Nigeria was seventh on the list of countries granted permanent residency by the Canadian government, behind India, China, Philippines, United Kingdom, United States and Ireland, with 1,041 applicants issued Express Entry ITAs.

However, barely a year later, the number of issued Express Entry ITAs leaped to 5,130. And the 2018 figure, though not yet officially, has surpassed the 10,000 mark, according to a Canadian immigration lawyer who spoke to BH.

However, much as Nigerians craved the Express Entry scheme, it is only for the best of the best.

Apart from entering Canada through the Express Entry ITAs, which eventually leads to permanent residency and citizenship, Nigerians also enter Canada through other means, such as immigrant visas, business, student, tourist and entry visas, as well as through applications for asylum.

Nigerians with visiting visas to the United States have increasingly walked across the Canadian border in New York into Quebec to claim asylum. The route accounted for 40% of Canada’s total asylum claimants in 2017 and in the first three months of 2018, more than half of the 5,000 asylum claimants who crossed the border were Nigerians. At the end of 2018, a total of 5,575 Nigerians sought asylum in Canada—the second largest group by nationality.

Apart from Europe, Nigerians are also setting their sights to other countries as Australia and rich Arab countries like Qatar, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and even Saudi Arabia.

A media practitioner based in Lagos informed BH that from April 2018 to December of the same year, over 20 of his church members, a Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) located on Aromire Street, off Adeniyi Jones, had moved abroad for greener pasture.

Apart from running abroad to seek greener pastures, a large number of Nigerians sought residency abroad because of insecurity currently plaguing the country. According to the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR, there were approximately 228,000 Nigerian refugees who have left the country and over 1.9 million people were internally displaced in Nigeria due to Boko Haram insurgency.

Many have also fled the country to escape the unending assault on the Middle Belt region by Fulani herdsmen and bandits.

Though, many Nigerian travelled abroad through legal means, the majority of immigrants do so through the treacherous route across the Sahara Desert and Mediterranean Sea to try and reach Europe and later America.

Unfortunately, most of them don’t normally make it. The Nigerian Immigration Service in a report released in 2018, said that no fewer than 10,000 Nigerians died between January and May 2017 while trying to illegally migrate through the Mediterranean Sea and the deserts.

NIS Assistant Comptroller-General, in charge of training, manpower and development, Mr. Maroof Giwa, said that 4,900 Nigerians died in the Mediterranean Sea while the rest died while going through the desert in their bid to cross to Europe. He also added that the figure is a conservative one as other source suggest higher casualties.

An annual report of the United States Foreign Service for 2017made available in late 2018,

indicate that Nigerians who traveled to the United States of America (USA) as non-immigrants in 2017 spent a total of N9.733 billion as payment for visa fees, this excludes what was spent by those that obtained immigrant visas and those whose visa applications were rejected.Most of them did not return home.

Figures obtained from the annual report of visa issuance at the United States Foreign Service across the globe shows that a total of 515,434 visas were issued from its consulates across Africa in 2017. Nigeria accounted for 32.78 per cent of the visas issued to 54 countries on the continent.

A total of 168,980 non-immigrant visas were issued to Nigerians in 2017.

The USA embassy charges $160, translating to N57,600 as visa fees at both its offices in Lagos and Abuja. This means that those whose applications for immigrant visa were approved jointly paid N9.733 billion as visa fees.

The figure was however lower than the number of visas that were approved in 2016 when the highest number of visas issued to Nigerians was recorded. A total of 179,145 visas were issued in 2016. The volume of visa issued by the US embassy had been on the rise since 2008 reaching the high in 2016 before the drop last year.

In 2008, the US embassy had issued only 59,748 non-immigrant visas to Nigerians a figure which rose gradually to 83,944 in 2012. The figure however rose sharply in 2013 to 113,503 and has since risen consistently.

It is estimated that more than 220,000 applications are submitted annually by Nigerians for non-immigrant visas to the United States. Figures obtained showed that 1,037 ‘A’ visas, which is meant for representatives of foreign government traveling to the United States to engage in official activities were issued to Nigerian government officials.

A total of 156,104 B1,B2 visas were issued to Nigerians who applied to go to the United states as temporary visitors for business or pleasure. Trade and transit visa C, D and E visas issued at the Nigerian embassy in 2017 totaled 234 while 7,473 F visas were issued for Nigerian students who left to study in the US.

The data also showed that 1,276 visas were issued to Nigerians who applied for the J visa which is meant for participants of work-and study-based exchange visitor programs and M visa reserved for vocational and technical schools, while journalists got 149 visas in 2017.

The US embassy had also issued 794 visas to Nigerian diplomats, government officials, and employees who work for international organizations in the United States while 460 H visas were issued to temporary workers in the United States.

Nigerians whose spouse are based in the United States were also issued 744 K visa to enter the country, while international transferees who have worked for a related organization abroad that applied for the L visa got 280. Also 166 visas were issued to athletes and entertainers while religious workers got 241 visas.

According to the U.S. Department of State, more than 163,000 immigrant and non-immigrant visas were issued to Nigerians between March 2017 and January 2018.

The number of applicants denied visa in 2017 were over 130,000, representing 44 per cent of the visas granted in the fiscal year.

While the daily exodus is alarming and portends serious consequences for the nation’s economy, BH gathered that the trend is not going to abate soon. A survey conducted by CLEEN Foundation and Afro-barometer released in 2018, shows that 1 in every 3 young and educated Nigerian has considered leaving the country for a variety of reasons.

The survey found out that 35% of the potential emigrants want to go abroad to find work and 24% say they are trying to escape economic hardship.

Already, 12% say they are taking concrete steps to leave the country while 35% say they plan to leave within the next year or two and 52% say they had considered emigrating but have not made specific plans yet.

The survey also found out that about 8 in 10 potential Nigerian emigrants are aged 35 or younger, including 45% who are 25 or younger and about 35% have post-secondary school qualifications.

Data obtained from the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) passport centre at Ikeja also confirmed that the number of Nigerians applying for passports has multiplied.

The Ikoyi NIS office alone, it was learnt, issues the highest number of passports of about 1, 000 daily. Ikeja and FESTAC combined, issue around 1, 200 daily. Abuja comes on their heels by issuing over 500 passports daily.

They are followed by Ibadan, Abeokuta, Kano and Asaba in Delta State, with a combined daily production of around 600 passports altogether. While other states issue put together issue around 2, 500 passports daily.

According to a source at the Ikeja centre, the deluge of applications for passport was largely responsible for the shortage in passport booklets in 2018.

Experts predict that the situation may persist as the effects of the meltdownof the nation’s economic bites harder.