SAFE MIGRATION AWARENESS CAMPAIGN IN RURAL COMMUNITIES OF NIGERIA, THE PROCEDURE AND IMPACTS

International migration is undergoing unprecedented changes. The traditionaldeterminants of migration such as poverty, food insecurity and climate change are givingway to new motivations. These new issues, that include but are not limited to ambitionsto live a foreign lifestyle, incomplete and asymmetric information are capable ofunderestimating the risk in irregular migration. As the information about foreign lifestyleflow freely and new opportunities open, it becomes very difficult to manage irregularmigration through border control. Within the transitional mode of internationalmigration, the use of awareness campaigns, especially in rural areas of home countriesthat target the most vulnerable groups, – school-age youths, could become a veritablemeans of deterring irregular migration.In 2018, Ricosmigration – Rural Information Campaign on Safe Migration - receivedfunding from the German Foreign Office to investigate why young people from Nigeriamigrate irregularly and implement a safe migration awareness campaign for youth inrural secondary schools. This report is from the result of the project which cut acrossinterviews of Nigerian migrants living in Italy, potential migrants in Nigeria, and the resultof the awareness campaigns conducted in 10 secondary schools in Edo, Nigeria. In thereport, we explain the profile of a potential migrant from Nigeria. We also explore howreduced capabilities to lead the desired life and how the increasing use of social mediainternet has greatly raised the likelihood of migration in Nigeria. We equally show in thedetail how we implemented a randomized experiment to test the efficiency of themigration awareness campaign.The project provides a new dimension to the discourse of the root cause of migration byintroducing the role of limited opportunities and freedom (capabilities), low lifesatisfaction, and incomplete information through social media. Additionally, it shows thepower of light interventions such as awareness campaigns in reducing irregularmigration. In particular, the result showed that about 77.2 per cent of Nigerian youthsthat responded to the interview have the intention to migrate abroad, and 37.2 per centwould migrate if they win a cash lottery that is enough to cover the migration cost. Ourrandomized experiment showed that migration awareness campaign could reduce therisk of being a victim of human trafficking by more than 50 per cent. It could also reducethe desire to engage in irregular migration by more than 30 per cent and increased thedecision to take necessary steps to avoid human traffickers and follow proper proceduresfor safe migration by more than 50 per cent.The awareness campaign had a wide coverage reaching about 7000 students in ruralcommunities in Edo State, Nigeria. The success factors of our awareness campaign includethe utilization of appropriate channels, delivery of an accurate message that was tailoredto the group we spoke to, and the use of respected external facilitators.