Glorius Olajire
Over 200 million migrant workers send money to over 800 million family members in low- and middle-income countries. In Nigeria, remittances in 2022 made up 4.22 percent of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP). By comparison, the global average in 2022 (based on 168 countries) were 5.40 percent. This rate, which had increased in the past decades was a total of US$626 billion, in 2022.
Remittance?
Remittances can be financial or non-financial. The non-financial could include advice from people in the diaspora, support with property purchase or relocation. It is any form of transfer that does not include the exchange of money.
Financial remittance is money sent from one person, to another, across borders. It is usually sent to take care of household needs, from education to day-to-day upkeep. Data reveals that, 30 percent of Nigerians depend on receiving remittances from relatives or friends living in other countries.
On average, across 34 countries in Africa, 25 percent say someone in their family has lived in another country during the past three years. Pew Research Centre in 2018, survey results also shared that Nigeria accounted for 54 percent of remittances sent to sub-Saharan Africa in 2017.
This raises the question of what effect do these remittances, have on family relationships? Is it fair to that aunty that is in the UK, and is it fair to you?
Prof. Adekola left in 2007, he was a professor at FUTA before he left to meet his family who had already relocated to the UK. “It came to the point that it was either; I go to join them in the UK, or my family comes back to Nigeria to be together, but I decided that my children would have better opportunities in the UK. “
For many Nigerians in the diaspora, money is not easy to come by. But the stress of work over there and the demands from family members back home is still significant.
Speaking on his experience with those who ask for money, he said, “There is always the belief that once you are outside the country, you are getting a lot of money here and a lot of demands would be coming to you as someone in the diaspora”
Mrs Adedeji, a business analyst in the UK, who lives with her young family in the Uk said, “Oh yes nearly half of one person’s income goes back home, every month. [But] we set expectations immediately we got here and ensured everyone understood that it’s not a money ritual we are doing here … and that worked in our favour so no pressure, but we do have commitments. “
Many Nigerians think their relatives in the diaspora are rich or are comfortable enough to send them money. Prof Adekola lamented “People do not want to believe that things are not so easy, they say; things are not so easy, and your family is there. Things are not as easy as people think they are. People tell me to bring them to the UK, but it is not so easy like that, everybody is under the law“
Mrs Adedeji also shared that the first year was not easy “Even though we had money for flight and visa …we did not have money for proof of funds. We had to borrow that from friends who were in the UK, and we had to return the money when we came.
In the first six months, we did not have to pay for accommodation, because I was living in the accommodation provided under my husband’s scholarship. We got here in September, and I became pregnant in October, between then and February we could not get a place. I was a kitchen portal, did care work, worked for cafes, but the week I got pregnant, I got an offer to work as a business analyst for a law firm in the UK”
Remittance and its effects
Nigeria is a very kinship dependent society. The connections made with communities, culture and families influence a lot of our decisions. From voting choices, employment, choice of schools, place of abode, among others.
Dr. Olayinka Akanle| Photo by Dr. Akanle
We discussed this with Dr. Olayinka Akanle is a sociologist from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria who has written several papers, and books on migration and its consequences on kinship and social systems. He also contributes to sociological discussions with his YouTube channel where he provides insight on the topics discussed above and the implications on the migrant family and the environment.
Dr. Akanle, added that Nigerians in the diaspora keep networks because many do not sufficiently integrate abroad, and have it in mind to return home in old age. Others keep this network to “have a sense of nostalgia, to use the network for investment purposes, or to just to feel attached to home even when they are lonely abroad”
These networks play a large role in supporting Nigerian in the diaspora on short visits, education for their children as “there is also a new trend where people send their children back to school in Africa so that they can have an African way of life because they prefer and perceive it to be better than the American, Australian, European or Asian cultures. Sending their children to elementary school in Africa, because some don’t like the values of those places for children, issue of respect and others.
These financial remittances are usually used for household welfare in Nigeria, and are often sent, “weekly, intermittently, based on requests or demand, for instance, burial, or to pay school fees.”
Dr. Akanle also sounded a note of warning on the negative side of remittance. Although, “it increases national income, it has overtaken foreign direct investment, it sustains the livelihood of poor countries, but, it can [create a] dependence, entitlement mentality, where people just believe they have a brother or sister abroad who will always send money, so they refuse to work and become lazy they become entitled.”
He also added that it “creates pressure on the person sending the money because they don’t pick money on the floor in the US, overseas or in the EU they work for it and many of them live like slaves. They work so hard and use almost all the money to pay bills, yet, you keep asking them for money even though they feel obligated to support the family members back home, they are also under pressure to meet their needs. “
This pressure leads to a feeling of obligation on the part of the Nigerians in the diaspora. “And even though some of them don’t have any problem with this, they feel obligated to give to help their family members, even as they send them money monthly, they still ask for money every time and this can cause misgivings among those in the diaspora and those who are at home.”
Life abroad is relatively lonely because of the time it takes to create a social circle. “I have been to many of these places abroad. I used to live abroad. It is not seen over there, but then they keep putting pressure. No time for socializing.”
This does not stop Nigerians from investing back home. Although some are wary of investments, because they scammed them a lot and the fraudulent activities of their kin and social networks in Nigeria, who enrich themselves at the expense of these migrants or people in the diaspora.
If you are remittance beneficiaries, please note
Information sharing has always been a complaint from the families of those who have family members abroad. Migrants may not share certain information with their family members, because they think doing this would raise expectations and lead to increased demands. But, by taking those abroad as a last resort, you can help reduce the pressure on them.
Another means of income to keep finances afloat, can also be helpful, since remittances are often unreliable. Because this also depends on the disposable income of your family member in the diaspora. Keeping the communication lines open beyond finances or means of support can be beneficial to their mental health. Their circle of community is different from Nigeria’s and communication from family would make them feel closer to home.
Preambles readers must know
This article was a combination of Nigerian migrants’ experiences and their relationship with family, specifically as it concerns remittance and kinship ties having pointed to this being the reality of 30% of Nigerian families. This was done by combining the perspective of those in the diaspora and the expertise of a sociologist on migration. Pseudonyms were used in this article to protect the identity of the interviewees.–
Photo credit: Businessremarks.com
