Understanding migration motivations in West Africa: the case of Nigerians in Ghana

Contemporary migration studies increasingly focus on intra-continental migration especially in Europe. In Africa, this interest has not been pursued even though evidence abounds in the literature to suggest the presence of intra-African migration. Explanations of the motivation for such migrations often employ the 'economic push-pull model'. This paper interrogates the 'economic push and pull' argument in the migration motivation literature. It presents a range ofpullfactors that do not follow this conventional approach. The paper first reconstructs Nigerian presence in, and connection with Ghana, and then explores the contemporary motivating factors for Nigerian migration -to Ghana. The paper argues that, contemporary Nigerian migration to Ghana is motivated by multiple factors reflecting political, economic and historical considerations. The paper concludes by arguing that a multi-factoral migration motivation interpretation appears more adequate in explaining Nigerian migration to Ghana.