Abstract
The trajectory of youth (im)mobility in Africa has been interrogated in diverse spheres, and anecdotal evidence reveals that young Africans gravitate towards urban areas in search of better life opportunities. Migration is generally considered a rite of passage into adulthood, and this can take different forms – formal, informal, voluntary, involuntary and/or irregular. Concurrent with the African youth migration wave is the phenomenon of waithood (Honwana, 2013; Lawanson, 2019). Waithood explains a “prolonged” state of youthfulness while seeking for unrestricted opportunities and stable socioeconomic advantage, towards achieving adulthood ambitions. The panel targets discourse around how migration interfaces with waithood, while also considering diversities such as gender, ethnicity/race, education and life aspirations. In this proposal, we interrogate how youth move from rural areas to cities, across cities and transnationally, including beyond the continent. We welcome submission on issues germane to negotiating waithood, incremental migration trajectories, the “japa” syndrome, and other migration praxes that are peculiar to wayfinding and life aspirations of young Africans. Keywords: Waithood, Migration, Japa, Youth. This panel derives from the concluded research projects in Lagos African Cluster Centre namely, Youth and Informal Labour Migration across West African Urban Corridors and Growing Up in Cities, Lagos.
This panel derives from the concluded research projects in Lagos African Cluster Centre namely, Youth and Informal Labour Migration across West African Urban Corridors and Growing Up in Cities, Lagos.
Presentations
Esther Thontteh & Kennedy Eborka
University of Lagos (Nigeria)
Youth Migration and Street-Level Politics in Lagos: Perceptions and Realities
Gangsterism is a key aspect of urbanization through the influx of youths who survives through their parasitic dependence on the spatial regulation of markets, streetscapes and public transportation parks in Lagos, Nigeria. The huge population of youth in Nigeria signifies a great asset for a socio- political transformation within a democratic space but when not well managed, it makes a city unsecured and compromises other sectors within the society. This article explored objectives on the migration and integration concepts of youth migrants through the following research questions: (1) Who has control of Lagos streetscapes? (2) What are the instruments of control? (3) How is power negotiated for governance of the streets? (4) Who benefits? Group Theory was adopted to understand this phenomenon. The study outcome generated vital unforeseen chain of indices that occur when migration policy is not properly conducted and institutionalized resulting in negative impacts on cities and related systems. Respondents adjudged the non-institutionalized techniques as reliable and easy to access. This study, therefore, provides some thoughts on the methods and tools utilized by the non-state actors as coping strategies towards curbing violence in the cities and recommends institutional support towards local adaptation of the strategies. This article contributes to the ongoing discourse about the increasing militarisation of public spaces, reimagining peaceful urban futures and policy interventions for enhancing public safety and security.
Keywords: Politics, Youths, Migration, non-state actors
Teniola Tonade
University of Lagos (Nigeria)
“Lost in Transnation”: Prolonged Liminality and the Paradox of Agency in the African Migrant Experience
The idea of waiting features prominently in ethnographic research and theoretical reflections on the challenges of human transitioning to new (desired) categories. For instance: many youth populations in Africa have been observed to be routinely locked in a conceptual “waithood” as they seek to measure up to conventional socioeconomic markers of contemporary adult life. In reference to diasporic experiences, however, “waiting” almost inevitably transcends its function as a categorical frame, to depict an actual condition of liminality in which migrants, being neither “here” nor “there,” find themselves in the in-between with no clear affiliations of citizenship or cultural consciousness. For many African migrants, this liminality is liable to be prolonged— ultimately because of the multi-dimensional lopsidedness of power in the global order. Drawing on ethnographic findings from a variety of selected sources, as well as personal and evaluative reflections from across place and time, this paper attempts to illuminate the character (and limits) of migrants’ agency in situations of prolonged liminality. First, I deploy Soyinka’s concept of the Abyss of Transition as a theoretical framework for mapping the nature of spatiotemporal liminalities in general. Then I use Arendt’s philosophical explorations of the reality of statelessness as a prism for understanding the basic specificities of diasporic limbo. I argue that for African migrants, prolonged liminality leads to a multifaceted paradox of agency as, due to global asymmetries of power relations, they embody and oscillate between the jarring opposites of conscious wilfulness and helpless surrender.
Keywords: Waiting; African Migrants; Liminality; Paradox of Agency; Transnation(alism)
Damilola Olalekan
University of Lagos (Nigeria), University of Melbourne (Australia)
Navigating Gendered Pathways of Migration in Lagos Urban Youthscape
Youth Migration and Street-Level Politics in Lagos: Perceptions and Realities Lagos, one of the major hub and influential cities in the West African region, remains a destination for both intranational and transnational migration. Prior experiences have revealed that migration pathways into major cities are often shaped by economic aspirations and social networks with young people navigating challenges and opportunities shaped by socio-economic expectations and inequalities, however there are gendered factors that critically influence migrants’ experiences, trajectories, opportunities and vulnerabilities. This paper examines the gender dimensions of youth migration in Lagos exploring reason for migration, how they navigate the complexities of the city, labour or economic participation, social integration and adaptation.
The data was gotten from both secondary data from published literatures and primary data from interviews conducted with men and women migrants in Lagos as part of the 2021 West African Urban Corridor Project. The study highlights how gender norms shape differential access to economic opportunities and social networks, while also influencing migrants’ exposure to precarity and exclusion. Also, it interrogates the constraints young women and men face in negotiating urban space and their coping mechanisms. The findings shed light on gender-specific migration challenges and contribute to broader discussion on inclusive urban policies and the need for gender-responsive migration governance in African megacities.
Oluokun Faithful Abimbola
University of Lagos (Nigeria)
Migration, Waithood, and Marriage: The Shifting Roles of African Women in Long-Distance Marriages
Waithood is not a gendered experience, men and women go through this phase, however, within African communities where the woman is not equal to her spouse in a marital relationship, their experiences would defer, hence this study. This research investigates the effects of migrationinduced separation on the dynamics of romantic relationships and marriages, with particular emphasis on the experiences and agency of women who are "left behind" by their partners. This paper analyses how African women navigate life and responsibilities within their immediate families and the way they are perceived in their communities while their partners have “japa” or lives in a distant city. It will also examine the various strategies women employ to maintain their relationships, manage emotional and financial challenges, and how this circumstantial separation affects their identity and personal aspirations. By evaluating the lived experiences and stories of African women in long-distance relationships, this research would provide a deeper understanding of the complex interplay between migration, gender, and waithood in contemporary African societies.
Keywords: Women, Waithood, Marriage, Migration