Abstract
This paper investigates the reason behind rural-urban migration in developing countries of the world using Nigeria as focus of the study. The fact is that most of the countries of the developing world are just on the threshold of their industrial take-off. The unfolding of events in the western world indicates that urbanization and industrialization goes together. Thus, the simple fact that continuing rapid urbanization is inevitable in developing countries. This study examines issues of drive, implication and solution to the problem of rural-urban migration in Nigeria. In view of the emerging nature of this research work, the survey research design was used. The paper adopted urban bias theory as a model for its analytical framework. The paper observed that in Nigeria, urban centres or cities are springing up and people are migrating from the rural areas to urban areas. And they have different reasons for migrating from rural areas to urban centres; these reasons include among others lack of employment opportunities in rural areas, lack of infrastructural facilities, educational institution etc. It therefore, recommends that the government should embark on the development of agricultural sector to create employment and infrastructural development in the rural areas.
Highlights
The obvious relationship between urbanization and industrialization is the nexus of labor attraction in the commercial and manufacturing activities but more importantly in agricultural production
In the context of this research, from the analysis conducted through primary data collection, graphical presentations and chi-square tests, the research work has the following findings: people migrate from rural to urban areas in search better employment opportunities, have access to infrastructural amenities, to acquire wealth and acquire quality education
The chi-square results for the first hypothesis showed a high level of significance, leading to the conclusion that employment opportunity plays a cogent role in rural-urban migration
Summary
The obvious relationship between urbanization and industrialization is the nexus of labor attraction in the commercial and manufacturing activities but more importantly in agricultural production. As the conditions of opportunities expand in the urban areas, they, dialectically worsen in the rural areas as people are continuously attracted into the urban areas where they are dangerously forced to abandon rural life to seek a means of frivolous livelihood in the towns. Migration has been identified as a survival strategy utilized by the poor, especially the rural dwellers [1]. In Nigeria, urban centres or cities are springing up and people are migrating from the rural areas to urban areas. They have different reasons for migrating from rural areas to urban centres; these reasons may include among others lack of employment opportunities, lack of infrastructural facilities, educational institution etc. The deplorable condition of the Nigerian rural sector is emphatic and more worrisome is that even the few policies and programs put in place and implemented by government over the years have not resulted in significant improvement in the development of the rural areas in Nigeria. [2]
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