The Role of Communal Clashes in Rural to Urban Migration in Nigeria.

Rotimi
Rotimi
Nov 4 · 5 min read

A Short Case Study of Domestic Workers in Lagos

By Rotimi Williams

The ongoing communal clashes in Rural-Nigeria have been on the increase over the last five years, with its prevalence in the Middle-belt region of the country. These crisis, popularly tagged as “Farmer — Herder Conflict”, in reality is misleading, as evidence shows that a number of such communal clashes are between sister-communities, disputing over Land ownership. These disputes date back decades in most cases, and the Nigerian Government have done a poor job at counting the cost of such conflicts, with regards its effects on Agriculture and Economic Development, using a top-down approach.

Whilst its important to look at the effect of these conflicts on the country’s agricultural and economic development from a holistic view, it is equally as important to go granular and understand how it affects the common man in the conflict areas. The rate at which the country is developing versus the rate at which it strives to develop, I say with conviction, that this is beginning to look unattainable, given the skewed rate of development across states and the migration of labour from Rural to Urban Nigeria.

In the early 80s through to the late 90s, I recall that most of the domestic staff we had in the house were typically from South-West region of the country and most of them were referred by relatives. As time passed, we began to see more domestic staff from Cross River, Akwa Ibom and Edo state. One thing they all had in common, their move to Lagos city was purely economic, in search of capital to start a small business in their respective states.

However, the story today is very different, and I draw from my personal experiences and that of others close to me. From my experience and conversations with a large number of people, it is evident that a Shift has occurred. In the last 24 months, there has been an influx of domestic workers into Lagos state, and whilst most may think its purely coincidental, a further probe into the issue and you begin to see a trend. Most of the new labour migrant are predominantly from Plateau, Benue and Kaduna state (Kaduna South to be precise). The one thing all three have in common is rampant communal conflicts, which accounts for over 50% of all casualties recorded in recent years. In Benue state, on the 1stof January in 2018, 77 people were killed, in Plateau state (Barkin Ladi) on the 24thof June 2018, 86 people were killed and in Kaduna (Kaduna South), on February 10th– 11thof 2019, 141 people were killed. These are not one-off attacks, such attacks happen sporadically and yet, the cost has never really been assessed.

The common factor derived from such attacks are what we call “Internally Displaced People” or “IDP’s”, whom are sometimes provided with temporary shelter by the Government, however, the one critical aspect of such attacks which is overlooked, are neighbouring communities that flee, abandoning their homes and way of life, Farming.

In an interview with some of the victims of communal conflicts in Bassa local Government in Plateau state, it became apparent, the effects that these conflicts have on agriculture and why rural — urban migration is on the rise. Farmers in Bassa Local Government were earning N1,500,000 ($4,286) annually, but as a result of communal clashes and fear of being attacked on their big farms, they are now farming on smaller plots of land close to their homes. The financial implication is that they now only earn N150,000 ($428) annually. This represents a 90% decline in revenue, grossly affecting an already below-average way of life. This figure represents the experience of a few, but because the clashes are now widespread, it is easy to see how this affects the common-man and country as a whole.

The above was further corroborated during interviews with prospective nannies for my children in Lagos. Most of the candidates were from the three states mentioned and they all highlighted the insecurity issues in their respective communities and how this affected their ability to sustain their lives. For those that are parents, they mentioned that they were no longer able to send their children to school and that these children were either with relatives in the village or also employed as a domestic staff someplace else in the city. This is particularly sad, as their education has been halted and dreams shattered, over a conflict they have no control over and this is where the Government has been found wanting.

I recall that one of my neighbour’s maid lost both her brother and her uncle within a matter of weeks. They were both killed on the farm, and when I asked if she would ever farm, her response was an obvious “No”. What I found particularly alarming was that every other prospective domestic worker that we interviewed had also lost close relatives to this communal conflict.

At this point, one begins to wonder how much more there is to uncover with respect to these communal conflicts. The situation is dire and for those that make it to the city, there are other issues to contend with. One being their reduced bargaining power over wages and this is down to the fact that this particular market is saturated. They soon find themselves in the domestic labour-trap, trying to save money to start something, while trying to support other family members in the village. Their predicament is a bit like a revolving door, you step in and find yourself going round in circles, it’s a hopeless situation and more must be done to address the causes of such migration.

From a holistic point-of-view, the opportunity cost of such migration is far greater than it appears. Not only are lives lost, the country also loses both labour productivity, as education is halted and young Nigerians are forced to seek employment as domestic workers. From an economic perspective, the loss is far greater, especially with a rapidly growing population, agricultural productivity is on the decline as a result of this conflict driven migration.

The objective of this paper and the cited experiences is to get us thinking about the effects of communal conflicts from a granular perspective and it role in forced rural to urban migration.

Rotimi
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