ProWritHub - W3:
Immigration: economic opportunities, the challenges and realities on ground.
Immigration is an exercise or process in which an individual leaves his country of origin and travels to another country for one reason or the other.
Some Reasons why People leave their Countries to another one are;
Persecution - Some persons face persecutions on religious grounds, for association, colour, creed etc in their countries and if they can no longer tolerate it, they move out to another land. War or internal insurrection could make one to migrate out of his country.
Economic Reasons - A coming factor in our contemporary society. Due to the bad state of a country or suffocating rate of inflation that reduces people's purchasing power and impovrish them, one can move out of the country.
Education - In pursuit of the golden fleece most people travel out to the developed countries with functional educational system, right tools for teaching and learning as well as facilities for research and development. Also for technical reasons - there are several technological and scientific programmes that are only obtained in certain countries, including skills acquisition in relevant fields.
Culture - Attraction to a peoples' culture and or tradition, dressing, dancing, food, mannerisms etc could constitute an attraction to a potential immigrant.
Investment - Depending on a country's area of comparative advantage and government policy in place, this could cause a person to migrate to a different land. Fertile land for agriculture and agro allied operations could make migrate, even stable economy and friendly environment which guarantees return in investment could make one migrate out if his country.
Adventurism - One could migrate due to attraction of certain seanaries in other lands for sight seeing, holidays. This could happen due to the beauty of such lands, sea and water ways, parks, gardens, mountains etc.
Religious Beliefs : Consequent upon religious inclination, one could migrate to another country. An adherent of a certain religious sects that lacks fulfilment in his own country of origin could be tempted to migrate to another, outside the shores of his own country.
Atleast Christians regularly go on pilgrimage to Jerusalem, Israel, Rome, Fatima in Portugal, Lourdes in France etc while Most Moslems go to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to perform religious obligations.
Challenges Faced by immigrants:
Language: This is one of the major problems faced by immigrants. Without a good knowledge of the language. of one's host community, it becomes an issue to communicate and or socialize.
Culture - Some cultures are hostile and unfriendly to strangers. Such situations could be a nightmare to an immediate grant.
A non Moslem hardly settles easily in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Omman, Kuwait, Pakistan, Malaysia etc.
Same will a non christian settle easily in places like France, Brazil, Argentina, Spain etc.
It takes much sacrifice and self discipline for an immigrant to settle down and conveniently pursue's life's endeavours in any of these countries.
Policies - The government in power in a country at a particular time could make laws that are not convenient to immigrants like code of dressing, randy night life, food consumption, prostitution, Alcohol etc.
Documentation - Some countries have very strict laws on residential status of immigrants. It takes much resources, time and money to procure Residential permit to reside and do business in such countries e g China, Korea, North and South, India, Pakistan etc.
Education/Skills Acquisition - Some countries have tough rules of engagement. They do not allow young adults who do not have basic education and skills to migrate into their country e.g Botswana. They do not expect one who cannot financially or materially provide for himself or engage in meaningful labour to enter their territory and become a nuisance to them
Despite the Challenges enumerated above, these are economic benefits:
Countless number of people who were almost failures in their countries of origin eventually migrated and recorded astonishing successes in their new abodes. Many could be found in Equitorial Guinea, Cameroon etc.
New Educational Ideas - Programmes that could not be obtained in one's country if origin could be found handy in new locations.
Cultural Linkages - Due to migration, there has been many successful inter tribal marriages, cultural exchanges and integration - heralding peace and harmonious relationships among different nations.
Development in Trade, Commerce and Industry - Due to successful migration to other countries, there has developed a high volume of trade between countries that did not relate with one another. One needs to go to the ports and Beaches of Limbe, Tiko, Kumba among other locations in Cameroon to understand the volume of business activities carried out, most times informally between Nigeria and Cameroon.
Development of New cities and towns
There are countless locations, one, ordinarily would not believe existed if not through the migration of people from one country to the other e.g Bioko Island, Isangele, Ekondotiti etc.
Immigrants could discover that their dreams for leaving their ancestral homes was a mirage if;
One fails to get armed with sufficient information about the new place of residence. Also cognizance has to be taken about the people, their culture and traditions and world view.
Is the host country the kind that are hospitable or hostile to strangers. Seeing foreigners as intruders or games, hence a threat to their well being.
State of the economy/Currency - the economic state of the country and government programmes in place are determining factors in the chances of the immigrant succeeding.
Religious disposition of a country determines if an immigrant would stay or not. A person who has interest in piggery or pig rearing in animal husbandry and pork meat processing will not find it funny in an Islamic country.
My Migration to another country was a Child of circumstance.
I detested leaving my ancestral home to another country for whatever reasons. I believed providence made available in abundance all we need to be a great nation, but for poor leadership at both national,vstate and local levels.
However, I did travel to Cameroon in February 1991 on the invitation of a Cameroonian Publisher Cosmos Bill Eselecha Forcha, the Managing Director of Cosmos Publishers Limited Limbe, formerly Victoria.
Contrary to the promises he made to me in Nigeria while handling his books, so I worked for three months with him and resigned.
It afforded me an opportunity to meet, interface with many of their nationals in different spheres of life.
Later with the help of friends at Full Gospel Mission under the leadership of Pastor Pius Forlu, I got admission at the Barnabas Christian University (Living Word Fellowship) Anguissa Yaounde and left for studies.
At the end of my studies, I returned back to Nigeria in 1997.