Migration And Economic Development In Nigeria

Migration and Economic Development in Nigeria

 Dennis Brown Ewubare & Godwin Dave Odu^*

 Department of Economics, Faculty of Social Sciences, Rivers State University, Nkpolu Oroworukwo

^*Corresponding Author

DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2024.8120216

Received: 05 December 2024; Accepted: 13 December 2024; Published: 13 January 2025

ABSTRACT

The study investigated the effect of migration on economic development in Nigeria from 1981 to 2021. The study used poverty (PVT) to proxy economic development as the dependent variable while net migration rate (NMG), international migration stock (IMG) and rural-urban migration (RBM) were used as the explanatory variables. Descriptive statistics, unit root test, bound cointegration test, as well as Autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) were employed to analyse the data. The study reveals that both in the short run and long run, net migration (NMG) had a negatively insignificant impact on economic development; in the short run and long run international migrant stock (IMG) had a positive and insignificant impact on economic development. Also, in the short run, rural-urban migration (RBM) had a positive and insignificant impact on economic development in Nigeria while it had a negative and insignificant impact on economic development over the data period. The study thus concluded that migration did not promote economic development in Nigeria within the period under review. The study recommends that The Nigerian government should handle the migration crisis promptly, contribute to job creation, and improve the environment to discourage people from moving, as well as encourage its skilled workforce overseas to come home to aid in national development.

Keywords: Migration, Net Migration, Economic Development, Poverty, Rural-Urban Migration.

INTRODUCTION

Human migration is not a new phenomenon. Migration has been a component of man’s existence from the beginning of time. The concept of migration stretches back to the commercial era, when European migrants travelled to Africa via merchant capitalism to obtain protectorates and dwell in vast tracts of territory for more than 300 years (Golden and Reinert, 2006). Furthermore, according to the National Geographic Society (2005), migration has occurred throughout human history, beginning with the journeys of the first tribes of humans in East Africa to their current location in the universe. The enormity of global migration has made it the primary policy priority of practically every government in both emerging and established economies.The International Organization for migration (IOM) states that migration can be described as: A process of relocating, either over an international boundary or inside a State. It is a population movement that comprises any type of human mobility, regardless of its length, composition, or causes; it includes migration of refugees, displaced people, uprooted people, and economic migrants (IOM, 2004).

Furthermore, migration is a response to a crisis with economic, political, and socio-cultural components by individuals, either individually or in groups, in order to survive the circumstance. The world’s advanced economies are the primary destinations for foreign migrants. According to Rohrmoser and Wachter (2008), colonial relationships between Europeans and Africans shaped global migratory trends today. Furthermore, high unemployment, a lack of social amenities, poverty, economic crises, political instability, insecurity, low pay, and other unfavourable factors cause for external migration in the majority of the universe’s economies. Because the Nigerian labour market has failed to provide work for young people, they have no choice but to migrate. External migration has economic, socio-cultural, and political ramifications for both developing and developed economies.

For example, some international migrants had to deal with the stringent immigration rules put in place by governments in top destinations to deal with the issues of external migration. Furthermore, as a result of faulty documentation, the majority of these immigrants have lost their rights to health care, transportation, employment, and education, among other things. To make ends meet, some migrants may resort to aberrant behaviour. According to Yang (2008), these improper lifestyles include armed robbery, rising crime rates, prostitution, and pickpocketing. Some of the professions that result from these lifestyles are dubbed “3D jobs”. These are demanding, nasty, and even dangerous tasks. Because of these hurdles, the economic, political, and social motives for migration have been rejected in the majority of cases.

Studying the impact of migration on economic development involves a critical look at the problematic issues surrounding causes of migration in Nigeria. Japa’ and ‘Welcome to New Dispensation’ have been the anthems of many Nigerians as they look to leave the country. According to a Pew Research Centre study conducted in 2018, Nigeria tops the chat of people who plan to move to another country within the next 5 years with 48%, among the 12 countries sampled for the survey. According to data from the World Migration Report 2020, there were 272 million international migrants worldwide in 2019. (McAuliffe and Khadria, 2019). This accounts for 3.5% of the world’s population. Furthermore, in terms of gender, 52% and 48% of international migrants were male and female, respectively. In addition, 74% of overseas migrants were between the ages of 20 and 64. Furthermore, with 17.5 million migrants, India was the top country of origin for international migrants. Mexico comes in second and China comes in third, with 11.8 million and 10.7 million overseas migrants, respectively.

However, with 50.7 million international migrants, the United States remained the biggest country of destination for international migrants. According to the IOM, almost 600,000 African migrants have arrived in Italy via the perilous Central Mediterranean route since 2014 (Kirwin and Anderson, 2018). However, almost 120,000 African migrants arrived in Italy in 2017. “It has become a serious issue of the twenty-first century because of rapid globalization, industrialization, urbanization, and related migration patterns, which are forcing people to move from one place to another in search of livelihood options and employment opportunities,” Ranjana (2015) observed. Abedi-Lartey (2016), on the other hand, observed that migration has been described as a survival strategy used by the poor, particularly rural people, as a catalyst in the change process of not just individual migrants’ fates, but also the conditions of family members left behind, local communities, and larger regions through remittances.

As a result, the investigation into the effect of migration on economic development in Nigeria was motivated by the need to understand the various push and pull forces responsible for the country’s high rate of external migration. Understanding the root causes of international migration and depicting the various repercussions of external migration in Nigeria would help guide policy decisions and provide insights into the best economic development plans. Despite several efforts by the Federal, State, and Local governments, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), and other stakeholders to stem the unceasing stream of migration in Nigeria, the situation has persisted. Despite the hurdles of international migration, Nigerians have continued to relocate to economically stable economies around the world in search of economic opportunities to support themselves and their dependents at home. Low-intensity warfare, insufficient economic possibilities, and a huge young population has resulted in a large number of irregular migrants attempting to embark on the perilous journey to Europe from Nigeria. No surprise, according to the IOM (2016), migration has a number of economic, social, political, and cultural effects. In light of this, this study intends to analyze the effect of migration on economic development in the context of Nigeria.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Theoretical Literature

Neoclassical Theory of Migration

The Neoclassical theory of Migration was propounded by Todaro in 1969 and Harris & Todaro in 1970. This theory of Migration was the first theoretical basis formulated to describe labour migration. The theory observes migration as the end result of geographic differences between supply and demand of labour. These differences exist globally. Neoclassical theory expressed that international migration arises due to variances in wage levels between countries and labour markets. According to this theory, labour migration would stop if wage discrepancies were eliminated. The principle suggests that wage variations between regions are the foremost cause for labour migration. Neoclassical theory proposes that global migration was tied to the demand and supply of labour in the world. Nations with labour shortages and excessive demand will have high wages that will attract immigrants from countries with excess workforce. The main premise of the neoclassical theory of migration is directed by the push factors that push the person to leave their place of origin and by the pull factors that lead them to move to destination

country. Neoclassical theory concluded that the main causes of migration are different wages and access to work (Sjaastad, 1962; Todaro, 1976). The neoclassical theory of migration was divided into two main classes, such as macroeconomic and microeconomic aspects. At the macro level, neoclassical economic theory states that the sole purpose of migration is the exceptional imbalance in the supply of labour, the demand for labour, which leads to wage discrepancies in different countries. The macro level principle suggests that labour changes are due to differentials of wages, from low wage regions to regions with excessive wages, and that capital will go in the opposite direction. Migration will progressively decrease the workforce at the destination of the sending end. Countries with low wages have a much wider range of people, and as a result the large labour supply results to low wages. High-wage nations have surprisingly greater capital, which is often the reason why capital will shift to high-wage nations with low wages and manpower. When this movement occurs, wages go to a shared level. In the long term, based on neoclassical theory, migration flow will be minimized due to the fact that income convergences will decrease inducements to migrate (De Haas, 2008; Fagerheim, 2015).

At the micro level, the neoclassical principle of migration considers migrants as a person with coherent actions, with the purpose of going deep into the thought of cost-benefit migration. When there is free choice and full access to information, they move to the areas where they can be most creative, that is, the region where they can earn the highest wages. This significant mobility is based on the precise abilities a man or woman possesses and, moreover, on the unique structure of the labour markets. The micro point of view of neoclassical explains migration through a cost-benefit exploration, as human beings desire to maximize their non-public income. People think about their net-return on migration before making a choice. If the threat of getting a job and expected income in remote places extends beyond the rate of migration and the acceptance of opportunities, the individual may also find it extremely good to migrate. But because of the desire of the individual at the micro level, different individuals have clear expectations on migration (Massey, 1993; de Haas, 2008). According to the neoclassical view of migration, the workforce is moving from places with low global wages to countries with especially excessive wages due to wage variation between countries. Remittances provide a means of poverty reduction and development of economy when immigrants send remittances to their homeland. On the other hand, this type of migration to distant places could damage the development and growth when the homeland loses relatively skilled workers, known as Brain Drain. Therefore, human capital losses can adversely affect growth of the economy, as indicated in the principles of neoclassical (Fagerheim, 2015).

New Economics of Labour Migration Theory

The New Economics of Labour Migration theory emerged in the 1990s as a fundamental response to previous migration theories, especially neoclassical ones. New Economics of Labour Migration, which presumably sought to correct to each of the structural emphasis of the historical-structural point of view and the theoretical insufficiencies of the neoclassical theoretical framework (Stark, 1991; Massey, 1993; Taylor, 1999; Taylor & Martin, 2001; de Haas, 2008). The essence of this principle is that migration selection is no longer a character choice. It is a collective selection made by migrant families. Migration choices are made to maximize household income, as well as to reduce the dangers and alleviate the constraints associated with market failures. Remittances can serve as an insurance plan for future risks, as the home depends on unique sources of income. Remittances are also considered as financing capital when there is no access to credit facilities in the homeland (Massey, 1993; Taylor & Martin, 2001; de Haas, 2008). The idea of the New Economics Labor Migration system relating to Oded Stark’s work is considered a criticism of the micro model of the neoclassical principle which conceptualises migration as a decision of character. According to Stark (1991), migration can be a device used by households to maximize profits and it represents a significant source of income. By sending your loved one away from home, a family gets a loan that they will pay until migrants record their earnings later. They believed that if humans migrate to increase their income, they must send remittances to their homes (Taylor, 1999). NELM theory adapts to the Nigerian situation in which a family gather resources to send a member out of the country with a declared agreement and expectation to remit to their homes (Massey, 1993). Stark and Lucas (1988) stressed that there’s a specific and contractual agreement between each family members and the migrant before migration occur.

Empirical Literature

Troshchenkov (2011) examined the influence of immigration on the unemployment rate in 99 municipalities of Denmark during three years. Most of American studies showed neutral or positive effect of immigration on unemployment of the native population, but many European studies find negative effects of immigration. The study used a regression model in order to analyze and draw conclusions from effect of immigration on the unemployment rate in Denmark, paying particular attention to immigrants from non-Western countries. The results indicate that changes in the foreigner population and in population with non-Western origins do not lead to the significant changes in the unemployment rate. Hereby, it could be stated that derived conclusions are comparable and consistent with underlying theory and previous study.

Ratha et al. (2014) provided a review of the literature on the development impact of migration and remittances on origin countries and on destination countries in the South. International migration is an ever-growing phenomenon that has important development implications for both sending and receiving countries. For a sending country, migration and the resulting remittances lead to increased incomes and poverty reduction, and improved health and educational outcomes, and promote economic development. Yet these gains might come at substantial social costs to the migrants and their families. Since many developing countries are also large recipients of international migrants, they face challenges of integration of immigrants, job competition between migrant and native workers, and fiscal costs associated with provision of social services to the migrants. This paper also summarizes incipient discussions on the impacts of migration on climate change, democratic values, demographics, national identity, and security. In conclusion, the paper highlights a few policy recommendations calling for better integration of migration in development policies in the South and the North, improving data collection on migration and remittance flows, leveraging remittances for improving access to finance of recipient households and countries, improving recruitment mechanisms, and facilitating international labour mobility through safe and legal channels.

Brunow et al., (2015) studied the impact of international migration on economic growth in the global economy using a regression model from 1950 to 2010 decadal growth in most countries of the world and show that a country’s net migration in any decade has been neither harmful nor beneficial to growth in real income per capita in that decade, in contrast with natural increase (births minus deaths), which has been harmful to growth. When using lags, there is evidence that in rich countries net migration benefits growth in the long run, while natural increase in these countries generates a demographic dividend for growth after about two decades. In developing countries net outward migration also appears to boost growth in the long run. Hence greater cross-border mobility contributes to higher global long-run growth. We reconcile this empirical evidence with exogenous and endogenous growth theories, as well as with theories of economic geography and agglomeration. We consider a wide range of channels through which migrants can influence productivity growth in sending and receiving countries, such as education and training decisions, skill and diversity spill overs, age structure, entrepreneurship, trade, remittances, and clustering.

Morina et al. (2015) explained the positive role played by this phenomenon towards the human resource development, reduction of unemployment and vocational training through the experience that they gain in destination countries, as well as to affect the negative points or side effects that are brought by the spread of this phenomenon over the years. The paper was conducted through a survey of 300 citizens of Kosovo. The survey was conducted in order to obtain information about the reasons of citizens’ emigration and also to obtain information about the effects that emigration brings to local families. At the end, it is seen from the results that the effects of emigration for the economic development of the country are both positive and negative at the same scale. This phenomenon is a persuasion to the economic and social development of the country, but it also gives negative effects, by removing human resources, that are often professionally able outside the country.

Ojo (2016) studied selected publications of scholars and harnessed their perspectives on the impact of immigration on Nigerian economy. The findings show that immigration is traceable to presence of factor endowment such as crude oil and insufficient manpower in some areas like technology, medicine, agriculture etc. Immigration has contributed to growth of gross domestic product via filling the capacity gap. However, there are negative impacts that come through diffusion such as swallowing up cultural heritage, transfer of diseases and suchlike.

Škuflić and Vučković (2018) analysed the effects of emigration on emigrant countries’ unemployment rates (short-term effect) in selected EU emigrant countries. The panel data analysis (fixed-effects model) covers the period from 2004 to 2015, and a total of nine EU countries: Bulgaria; Estonia; Greece; Croatia; Latvia; Lithuania; Poland; Portugal; and Romania. The obtained results show that emigration increases the unemployment rate in emigrant countries confirming that, besides generally expected positive effects in terms of a fall in unemployment, emigration could also have an adverse effect on emigrant countries’ labour markets. Such results point to structural issues in the labour market caused by emigration, i.e., an increase in the labour supply and demand mismatch, which is discussed in the paper through the descriptive analysis of Job Vacancy Rate (JVR) data.

Duru (2021) examined the leading causes and consequences of international migration in Nigeria. The data was collected through a structured questionnaire. The opinions of 100 respondents selected through the purposive sampling technique were obtained on the principal causes and consequences of international migration in Nigeria. The findings revealed that the principal causes of international migration in Nigeria were job opportunities, unemployment, wealth prospects, safety and security, better conditions of service, low salaries and higher standards of living. These foremost causes of international migration in Nigeria were mostly economic factors. Furthermore, the findings showed that the foremost positive and negative effects of international migration in Nigeria were integrated development, increase in remittances, cheap and surplus labour, urban services and social infrastructure under stress, stricter immigration norms, multi-ethnic society and increased tolerance, Xenophobia, close gaps in skills and cultural dilution. These effects were economic, social and political. Among others, the study, thus, recommends that: the strategies of the government for stemming international migration should address push factors of unemployment, safety and security and low salaries and pull factors such as job opportunities, wealth prospects, better conditions of service and higher standards of living since they are the root causes of international migration. Furthermore, migration, a long-standing poverty reduction and strategy for human development need to be mainstreamed into policies of development in Nigeria at the Federal, State and Local Governments.

Kunwar (2021) studied the impacts of migration on poverty reduction at individual, households, community and national level. Both internal and international migration phenomenon including working environment of migrants are analyzed. The paper is based on secondary sources of information with aim of find evidence on linkages between migration and poverty at individual, household and community and National levels. Migration phenomenon has shown the evidences of in reducing poverty level but migrants are being compelled to work in an exploitative and unhygienic environment. Female migrants are being more victims of exploitation than male migrants. The poverty reduction has been gained in return of exploitative and health hazards working environment of migrants can be considered as an injustice to migrants and their place of origin as well as countries of origin.

Adeseye (2021) examined migrants’ remittance and economic growth in Nigeria. Remittance inflow was used as dependent variable and gross domestic products, inflation, imports and exports were independent variables. In this study, secondary data were utilized. The study employs annual data obtained from world development and international financial statistics which covers the period of 29 years (1990-2018). Quantitative data collected were evaluated through descriptive statistics; and the hypotheses formulated were tested with the use of multiple linear regressions which includes ANOVA, Correlation, and Coefficient. From the findings of the study and the tested hypotheses, it was discovered that significant relationship exists between remittance and gross domestic product, exports and imports in Nigeria while inflation has no significant relationship with remittance. The study therefore proffers some recommendations towards utilizing the influx of remittance for economic growth in Nigeria.

METHODOLOGY

Research Design

Following the reality that secondary data for the variables are employed, the ex-post facto research design is used in this study. The ex-post facto research design is used for researches based on already existing information or occurred events. That is to say, it is done with already existing data.The method of data collection for this study is the secondary one, based on the nature of the study which happens to be less behavioural. The data for this study were obtained from secondary sources particularly from the World Bank’s World Development Indicators (WDI), 2021. This study examined the effect of migration on economic development in Nigeria by using poverty to proxy economic development as dependent variable while the independent variables migration was proxied by net migration, international migrants’ stock and rural-urban migration.  Accordingly, the models were specified thus:

PVT = f(NMG, IMG, RBM)

The mathematical form of equation (1) is written thus:

PVT = β₀ + β₁NMG + β₂IMG + β₃RBM

The econometric form of equation (2) is specified as follows:

PVT_t = β₀ + β₁NMG_t + β₂IMG_t + β₃RBM +µ_t                                                                                                                        

Where;

PVT = economic development proxied by poverty

NMG = net Migration,

IMG = International migrants stock

RBM = rural-urban migration.

β₀ is the constant, while β_1–β₃ are the parameters to be estimated, µ₁is the stocastic term.

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

Descriptive Statistics

Table 1: Descriptive Statistics Results

Source: Author’s Computation (2023)

The result of the descriptive statistics in Table 4.2 shows that PVT has a mean value of 51.32268 with a standard deviation of 11.42599. The skewness value of PVT is positive (0.469840), meaning that PVT has a long-right tail while the kurtosis value of PVT is 2.369899 (i. e. less than 3), meaning that it is platykurtic. That is, it has a flat distribution, meaning that the series has less values lower than the mean sample. NMG has a mean value of -0.386829 with a standard deviation of 0.339120. The skewness value of NMG is negative (-2.587489), meaning that NMG has a long-left tail while the kurtosis value of NMG is 9.331554 (i. e. greater than 3), meaning that it is leptokurtic. This means that the series are more than the sample mean, that is, it has a peak distribution or surface. IMG has a mean value of -0.156585 with a standard deviation of 9.934021. The skewness value of IMG is negative (-2.034686), meaning that IMG has a long-left tail while the kurtosis value of IMG is 6.524369 (i. e. greater than 3), meaning that it is leptokurtic. This means that the series has more values than the sample mean, that is, it has a peak distribution or surface. RBM has a mean value of 4.754123 with a standard deviation of 0.628119. The skewness value of RBM is positive (0.514255), meaning that RBM has a long-right tail while the kurtosis value of RBM is 2.103987 (i. e. less than 3), meaning that it is platykurtic. This means that the series has a more values lower than the sample mean, that is, it has a flat distribution or surface.

Unit Root Results

The result of the unit root test in Table 4.3 reveals that NMG was stationary at level while PVT, IMG and RBM were stationary at 1^st difference. Hence, the study then concludes that the independent variables used in model one were integrated of both order zero and one, that is I(1) and I(0) and the dependent variable is integrated of order one, that is, I(1). Since the ADF result indicates that the series are of different order of integration, we cannot use the Engle-Granger and Johansen co-integration tests but rather the appropriate test to use in this study is the Bounds co-integration test. According to Giles (1975), Perasan, Shin and Smith (2001), Jawaid and Waheed (2016) and Salisu (2016), when the series used in any study are of different order of co-integration, the appropriate test to use is the bound co-integration test.

Table 2: Unit Root Test Results

Source: Author’s Computation (2023)

Bound Co-integration Test Results

Since the series are integration of order one and zero, that is, I(1) and I(0), we then proceed to conduct the bound co-integration. The result of the bound co-integration test is presented in Table 4.4 below.

Table 3: Bound Co-integration Test Result

This format makes the data more readable and aligned. Let me know if additional adjustments are needed!

Source: Author’s Computation (2023)

From Table 3, the result of the bound co-integration test shows that the calculated f-statistic value of 7.102605 falls higher than the theoretical critical value for the upper bound I(1) at 5 percent level. This means that there is a co-integration, hence, a long run relationship exists between NMG, IMG, RBM and PVT in Nigeria within the period under review. Since there is a long run relationship among the variables, we now proceed to estimate the short run dynamics and long run models based on the ARDL approach.

 Short and Long Run ARDL Analyses Results

The results of the short and long run dynamics estimation of the model is presented in table 4.

Table 4: Short Run and Long Run Result

Source: Author’s Computation (2023)

Table 4 shows that the calculated Adjusted-R square is 0.432, suggesting that the regressors in the model account for about 43 percent of the total variation in economic development (PVT). The remaining 57 percent are due to factors exogenous to the model but covered by the error term. Also, the overall regression result of the dynamic model is significant at 5 percent level as shown by the F-calculated of 5.122 with an f-stat prob value of 0.0005 which is less than 0.05 level. The ECM is rightly signed and is also significant. It shows about 56 percent disequilibrium in the model in the previous year is corrected in the current year since the data used are annual. Also, the Durbin-Watson (D-W) statistics value is 2.272, meaning that there is absence of serial autocorrelation in the model.

Furthermore, Table 4 shows that, in the short run, the coefficient of net migration (NMG) is positive, that is, -3.641555. This implies that one percent increase in NMG decreases economic development (PVT) about 3.641555 percent. The coefficient of net migration (NMG) is not statistically significant at 5 percent level. The insignificant effect of net migration (NMG) implies that net migration (NMG) has not enhance economic development (PVT). The results also indicate that in the short run the coefficients of international migrant stock (IMG) is positive, that is, 0.159215. This implies that one percent increase in international migrant stock (IMG) increases economic development (PVT) by about 0.159215 percent. The coefficient of international migrant stock (IMG) is not statistically significant at 5 percent level. The insignificant effect of international migrant stock (IMG) on economic development (GDP), implies that international migrant stock (IMG) does not enhance economic development (PVT).

Again, the result shows that in the short run rural-urban migration (RBM) are positive, that is, 4.549600, suggesting that a one percent increase in rural-urban migration (RBM) increases economic development (PVT) by about 4.549600 percent in Nigeria within the period of study. The coefficient of rural-urban migration (RBM) is not statistically significant at 5 percent level. The negative effect of rural-urban migration (RBM) on economic development (PVT) implies that rural-urban migration (RBM) has not enhance economic development (PVT) in Nigeria.

In the long run, Table 4 shows that, the coefficient of net migration (NMG) is positive, that is, -6.455056. This implies that one percent increase in NMG decreases economic development (PVT) about 6.455056 percent. The coefficient of net migration (NMG) is not statistically significant at 5 percent level. The insignificant effect of net migration (NMG) implies that net migration (NMG) has not enhance economic development (PVT). The results also indicate that in the long run the coefficients of international migrant stock (IMG) is positive, that is, 0.282227. This implies that one percent increase in international migrant stock (IMG) increases economic development (PVT) by about 0.282227 percent. The coefficient of international migrant stock (IMG) is not statistically significant at 5 percent level. The insignificant effect of international migrant stock (IMG) on economic development (GDP), implies that international migrant stock (IMG) does not enhance economic development (PVT).

Again, the result shows that in the long run rural-urban migration (RBM) are negative, that is, -12.178449, suggesting that a one percent increase in rural-urban migration (RBM) reduces economic development (PVT) by about 12.178449 percent in Nigeria within the period of study. The coefficient of rural-urban migration (RBM) is not statistically significant at 5 percent level. The negative effect of rural-urban migration (RBM) on economic development (PVT) implies that rural-urban migration (RBM) has not enhance economic development (PVT) in Nigeria.

 Table 5: Diagnostic Test Results

Source: Author’s Computation (2023)

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This study on impact of migration on economic development on Nigeria from 1981 to 2021 is very important because it examined the extent to which net migration had affected key indicators of economic development in Nigeria. With the use of data on poverty a proxy for economic development as the regressands, and data on net migration, international migrant stock and rural-urban migration as the regressors sourced from the World Bank’s World Development Indicators (2021), the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) method of econometric dynamic analyses processes were applied. The result showed that both in the short run and long run, net migration (MGR) had negatively insignificant impact on economic development; in the short run and long run international migrant stock (IMG) had positively and insignificant impact on economic development. Also, in the short run, rural-urban migration (RBM) had positively and an insignificant impact on economic development in Nigeria while it had a negative and an insignificant impact on economic development over the data period. The study thus concluded that migration did not promote economic development in Nigeria. Thus, the following recommendations are provided:

1. The Nigerian government should handle the migration crisis promptly, contribute to job creation, and improve the environment to discourage people from moving, as well as encourage its skilled workforce overseas to come home to aid in national development.
2. The government must develop economic policies that ensure the economic and social well-being of Nigerian citizens that will encourage nationals to stay at home and contribute to nation building.
3. Nigerian citizenry must demand accountable government leadership and muster unfathomable courage in the face of corrupt leadership.
4. The government must dispel myths about life abroad being full of opportunities, when this is not always the case.
5. To encourage lawful migration, source and host countries should facilitate a welcoming immigration policy. This will promote friendship and symbiotic links between the source and host countries.
6. Immigration rules and severe enforcement should be enhanced to seek down illegal migrants, and those found guilty should face the full weight of the law.
7. The educational sector should be enhanced to ensure that our graduates are well prepared to enter the business world.

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