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Diaspora, a collection of African diasporas, has become a reference point to measure the success of state institutions and their achievements, as well as to assess the effectiveness of foreign assistance.
Diaspora, a collection of African diasporas, has become a reference point to measure the success of state institutions and their achievements, as well as to assess the effectiveness of foreign assistance.
However, for the nation of Nigeria, the question of diaspora has been a thornier one.
The nation was confronted with the worst humanitarian crises in the modern era in 2003-04. The three wars it fought as a result of the emergence of Boko Haram as a terrorist group in the nation’s northeast laid bare the failure of Nigeria’s federal government to respond when asked to curb the terrorist group.
Diaspora is a reference to the diasporas of Nigerians in West Africa. Since the civil war, the vast majority of that country’s refugees and displaced persons (DDPs) have come to reside in neighboring countries and settled there. The vast, vast majority have adopted their former nation’s national languages and cultures.
But not all African diasporas have been so successful at adapting themselves to their adopted culture. The struggle, particularly in West Africa where the diaspora has been strongest, is to retain a sense of identity in a culture and country that is completely foreign.
As Nigerians have migrated on to other countries in quest of opportunities, there have been instances where governments have refused to accept the DDPs. This has become especially pertinent in the aftermath of Boko Harat which has since led to refugees and the DDPs from other parts of Nigeria returning home.
The Nigerian government is also experiencing a huge influx of DDPs that its own efforts to integrate them in many cases have only complicated rather than resolved the issue.
From the inception of the Nigerian Civil War in the early 1970s to the present day, the DDP