A total of 141,000 Nigerians have migrated to the United Kingdom in the last year, fresh data released by the UK’s government has shown.
The figure released by the Office for the National Statistics came as Nigerians embrace economic migration in what has been famously termed “japa,” a Yoruba word roughly translated to mean “to flee.”
In the data, the UK disclosed that five non-EU nationalities for immigration flow into the British country among which is Nigeria.
“In the year ending June 2023, the top five non-EU nationalities for immigration flows into the UK were: Indian (253,000), Nigerian (141,000), Chinese (89,000), Pakistani (55,000) and Ukrainian (35,000),” the release from the UK government revealed.
Early this year, the UK government announced some changes to its immigration laws.
By January 2024, the changes would come into effect and it includes the ban on dependants accompanying international students on non-research postgraduate courses.
While the development may likely force Nigerians to seek options of study somewhere with their families, a review of the data further revealed that Nigerians studying in the UK grew from 6,798 in 2017 to 59,053 as of December 2022.
Also, the number of dependents grew along. In 2019, there were 1,586 dependants and it increased last year to 60,923.
“The non-EU figures are based on Home Office Borders and Immigration data while EU figures are based on Registration and Population Interaction Database (RAPID) data received from the Department for Work and Pensions and HM Revenue and Customs and British nationals’ figures are based on the International Passenger Survey (IPS),” the UK’s Office for National Statistics said.
The increase in the number of migrants from Nigeria to the UK is coming amid the country’s harsh economic situation under President Bola Tinubu following the removal of fuel subsidy by his government.
Barely seven months after Mr Tinubu assumed office, the country’s economy had worsened and resulted in public outcry.
The President’s economic reforms which included the abolishment of the multiple exchange rate system and floating of the naira triggered inflation and also choked many Nigerians.
On Monday, Mr Tinubu expressed worries over the exodus of health workers from the country to seek a better life abroad.
26.5m Nigerians may go hungry in 2024
Meanwhile, another fresh report by Cadre Harmonise (CH) has alerted that about 26.5 million people in 26 states of Nigeria will face food crisis between June and August 2024.
The research result is contained in the November Analysis Result Presentation organised by the Kwara Ministry of Agriculture and Human Development in collaboration with CH and other partners.
The report stated that the anticipated people include Internally Displaced Persons in Zamfara, Sokoto and Borno States.
Speaking at the meeting, Isiaq Oloruko-oba, the Parmenent Secretary of the Ministry, noted that such reports paint a gloomy picture of the food and nutrition security facing the country.
He stated that it is critical for decision makers to plan ahead of such danger looming and proffer lasting solutions.
According to him, the meeting affords all critical stakeholders to deliberate on the way forward.
He reiterated on the resolve of the state government to ensure relevant stakeholders, especially farmers, are empowered and receive the necessary aid to ensure food security in the state.
Also speaking, Olusoji Oyawoye, the state CH Coordinator, said
Kwara has an estimated population of about 3.73 million based on the 2001 population projections.
He observed that agriculture offers the source of livelihood to majority of the population through subsistence traditional farming.
“Major crops are rice, cassava, yam, soya beans, maize, beniseed, guinea corn, groundnut and cowpea, tree crops include cashew nuts and palm oil.
“There are also some exploitation of hard wood timber and various forest resources such as shea nuts and locust bean,” he said.
Mr Oyawoye stated that the increase in inflation resulted from a combination of supply side factors including disruption of agricultural activities caused by higher costs of farm inputs and insecurity.
Others, he said, are exchange rate devaluation, increase in electricity tariffs and fuel increase with resultant increase in transportation costs.
According to him, the food inflation rate in September 2023 was 30.64 per cent on a year-on-year basis, which was 7.30 per cent points higher compared to the rate recorded in September 2022 (23.34 per cent).
The resource person added that high fuel prices, high food prices, high cost of farm inputs and inflation of other consumer commodities have been the key drivers of Food and Nutrition insecurity in Kwara.
“The increase in fuel prices and in the exchange rate were the major shocks which affected livelihoods, economic, transportation, agricultural activities and every other sector of the economy,” he said.
Mr Oyawoye pointed out that though Kwara has abundant food in the state, it is however worrisome that the foods are being exported outside to the detriment of the state.
He emphasised that agricultural produce especially food crops that are cultivated in the state should remain in Kwara to ensure food security.
“Farmers should be encouraged to focus more on food crops instead of depending largely on cash crops. We also need to ensure that large yields of foods are processed,” he said.
Mr Oyawoye appealed to the state government to encourage all-year-round farming, adding that such must be engrained in our system.
In his presentation, Dr Habeeb Lawal, the state Coordinator of Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria, ARIN, project submitted that nutrition is linked to food security.
He called for consistent action to ensure food security in the country, adding that the vulnerable including children, elderly, pregnant and maternal mothers are at great risks.
He warned that the country is still grappling with the problem of stunted growth among children.
The stakeholders at the meeting recommended dry season farming and irrigation should be encouraged all over the state in order to increase the availability of food crops throughout the seasons.
They also recommended that food crop markets should be encouraged in the state to ensure that people in the state have easier access to these crops from the different areas of cultivation.
