Migration Conundrums In Nigeria: Towards Peace And Security For Strategic Co-Existence

Abstract

Politicians in Nigeria have accused migrants of causing security conundrums. This resulted in the securitisation of immigration to rationalise the 2019 closure of land border policy to mitigate in Nigeria. This study sought to analyse peace and security challenges affecting migration in Nigeria in search of strategic co-existence. Relying on qualitative research based on secondary sources of data and content analysis it was argued that regarding immigration as a security threat moves it from the political concern of a low priority to that of a high priority regardless of the attendant economic benefits associated with the political economy of migration. It was revealed that migration securitisation through strict border management represents the political elites’ interests in the country yet better strategic pathways for co-existence could be explored. It is concluded that immigration should be de-securitised by dealing with causal inland factors and other foreign factors unrelated to migration.