The Economic Prospects of Sustainable Labour Migration and the Need for a Legal Framework in Nigeria

Abstract

Sustainable development has been a germane concept to international policy since the year 1992. The concept of Sustainable development also serves as a springboard for understanding labour migration as a phenomenon for the economic viability and social sustainability of developing and developed nations. This is because labour migration is a phenomenon that is rooted within the strata of socio-political sustainability, one of the recognized pillars of sustainable development. From the standpoint of migration history in Nigeria, migration has persisted internally in the form of rural-urban migration driven by varying socio-economic factors and externally, in the form of labour migration with a significant number of young Nigerians, many of whom are not deterred by the risks associated with travelling to Europe via unsafe paths, exploring some of these paths. Nigerian youths consisting of individuals aged between 15-35 years also comprise the largest population of migrants from the Global South seeking opportunities in other countries outside Europe. The ILO, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs-Statistical Division and the International Organization for Migration in development circles have advanced the discourse of labour migration whilst prompting countries to mainstream strategies that would allow the benefits of labour migration to be fully maximized. An ethical legal framework in sending countries (being developing countries in most cases, and in this instance referring to Nigeria) and receiving countries (being developed countries in most cases and in this instance referring to countries in Europe). It is within this framework that the economic prospects of labour migration can be properly reaped. In establishing a legal framework for Nigeria, it is important to consider what the country stands to lose with sustained outflow of youths and professionals required for nation building to Europe and sectors in Europe, this consideration would guide the concessions that can be made in the design of Bilateral Labour Agreements between Nigeria and Sending countries. The researcher of this work ultimately contemplates the realization of a legal framework in the form of a legislation that will strongly define labour migration in Nigeria, which would also be a consolidation of prior efforts channeled towards establishing a labour migration policy for Nigeria. The Research methodology utilized in this work is a combination of the Qualitative Legal Research and Analytical Legal Research. This is because the work relied mainly upon non-numerical data sources relative to the topic at hand and after evaluating these sources, put forward a subjective view.