Nigerian Diaspora - Emigration

Emigration

Further information: Emigration from Africa Further information: Nigerian British, Nigerian American, Nigerian Canadians, Nigerians in the Netherlands, Nigerians in Switzerland, Nigerians in Ireland, and Nigerians in Vietnam

Today millions of ethnic Nigerians live abroad, the largest communities can be found in the United Kingdom (500,000-3,000,000) and the United States (600,000-1,000,000 Nigerians). There are also large groups in Canada, Portugal and many other countries.

Nigeria has a high profile in organized crime, both among neighboring countries and worldwide, especially in fraud ("Nigerian scam") aliased 419), occasions of international prostitution and also drug trafficking.

The prevalence of organized crime in the Nigerian diaspora is explained by Pérouse de Montclos (2005) as

"the result of factors such as endemic local corruption, which facilitates illicit trafficking; the Biafra civil war, which contributed to a proliferation of firearms; the oil boom of the 1970s, which led to the embezzlement of public funds; and the economic crisis of the 1980s, which was accompanied by a rise in robberies. The expansion of the Nigerian diaspora and organized crime went hand in hand. Global migration boosted prostitution, drug trafficking and fraud, the three main activities of Nigerian syndicates. The smuggling of Nigerian sex workers became a whole industry that now extends from Switzerland to France and Italy (where black prostitutes are called “fireflies”), and has even reached the prudish kingdom of Saudi Arabia, from which 1,000 women are said to be deported every month by the authorities."

The high crime rate among Nigerian migrants also leads to stereotyping Nigerians as criminals; thus, in Cameroon, Nigerian migrants are perceived collectively by the inhabitants of Cameroon as likely to be oil smugglers or dealers in stolen cars. In the Netherlands, the debate on Nigerian crime reached an intensity described as a "moral panic" by one scholar. In Switzerland, the crime rate of Nigerian young males was reported as 620% that of Swiss males in same age group (2009 data), the second highest crime rate of any nationality, just below that of Angolan nationals (at 630%).