Obligatory return migration and the career aspirations of Nigerian Commonwealth Scholars

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper examines the experiences of Nigerian Commonwealth Scholars, in the context of post-colonial migration management regimes, to enliven scholarship on the migration-development nexus. It does so by adopting an approach that integrates debates over ‘brain gain’ and ‘brain drain’ with theoretical discussions concerning the migration aspiration-ability continuum. Findings from our qualitative dataset extend these debates by introducing the concept of Obligatory Return Migration. We argue that this concept provides a novel way to simultaneously analyse migrants’ agency and the structures influencing migration, and offers original insights on how return migration shapes career aspirations.