By Okeoghene Akubuike
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said that one out of four individuals aged 15 and above would like to leave their communities permanently or at least temporarily.
The NBS said this in its General Household Survey-Panel (GHS-Panel) Wave 5 2023/2024, unveiled yesterday in Abuja.
The report showed that more men aged 15 years and above wanted to leave their communities, representing 31. 2 percent, compared to women, who represented 19.3 percent.
It said that among age groups, 34.5 percent of people between 20 and 30 would like to migrate.
“This was followed by those between ages 15 and 18 at 26.9 percent and those between ages 31 and 64 at 25 percent. Among people aged 65 and above, only 6.5 percent said they would like to leave their communities,” it stated.
The report said that among those who would like to migrate, 35.3 percent would like to move to Abuja, and 26.6 percent would like to relocate to another country.
The report revealed that those in the Southern zones predominantly reported that they would like to relocate to another country. In contrast, individuals in the Northern zones preferred to move to Abuja or another state.
The NBS said that nationally, 45.4 per cent of households had at least one former household member who had relocated within and outside the country.
According to the report, half of those former household members are females.
The report said that 28.2 percent of former household members had relocated because of marriage, followed by those who had gone to live with relatives or friends at 21.2 percent.
“This was followed by those who went to look for/start a new job or business at 14.6 percent.
It showed that urban households were less likely to have a former member who had migrated, with a reported share of 37 percent compared to 49.3 percent of rural-area households.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the GHS-Panel is Nigeria’s nationally representative longitudinal household survey, which began in 2010 and has implemented five waves.
The panel nature of the data enables tracking household-level changes in critical areas of welfare, work, and socio-economic outcomes over time, yielding insights for policy.
