Explaining Nigeria’s Diaspora Communities’ Transmogrification: From State Partners to Challengers

Abstract

This chapter examines the transmogrification of Nigeria’s diaspora communities from state partners to challengers. It problematizes the securitization of Nigeria’s diaspora communities in the United States, Western Europe and South-East Asia, who were allegedly involved in the sponsorship of ‘terrorist,’ irredentist and rebel organizations and serving as financial conduits for conflicts and interventions as well as secessionist struggles for self-determination targeted against the state. The chapter asserts that prior to the recent transformation, Nigeria’s diasporic communities served as bridges between the national government and foreign countries by shaping her foreign policies and international behaviour; they acted as agents of democratization and economic support through the robust repatriation of funds and technology transfer. Relying on the securitization theory, the chapter argues that Nigeria’s diasporic communities’ recent morphing from perennial contributors in the areas of knowledge transfer and economy development to purveyors of threats to the states’ existence and survival is symptomatic of the state’s failure to address the basic challenges of state formation. It also stems from the general disillusionment among Nigeria’s diaspora communities, the perceived inability to realize the Nigerian dream, which all contrived to serve as push factors for Nigerians to migrate. The chapter suggests national dialogue and the proper monitoring and harnessing of the potentials of the Nigerian diaspora communities to engender positive contributions to national development.