Crises and Empowerment: Integrating Forced Migrants into Social Safety Nets in Zamfara State, Nigeria

Abstract

There is a disturbing trajectory unfolding in Nigeria in the manner the state responds and cares for victims of crises such as floods, conflict and other forms of violence. Most often, the state condemns the crises, provides unsustainable temporary palliatives and abandons the victims to their faith. Such is the condition of rural dwellers and residents in the suburbs of Zamfara State who have come under persistent attacks from bandits, kidnappers, farmers and herders’ conflict and other forms of violence in the past one decade. This has not only dislocated the rural economy but has also forced people to migrate into the inner city to take refuge with family members, friends and relative and some, in internally displaced persons(IDPs) camps. The forced migration of people has not only worsened the rise in number of the urban poor which hitherto stood at 42% but also led to a significant surge in urban population growth. Using in-depth interview, purposive sampling technique and a sample size of 30 respondents, the study found that forced migrants in Gusau Metropolis experience limited awareness and access to social safety nets, socio-economic vulnerability, disrupted livelihoods, and weak institutional integration. It was recommended that Government, NGOs, humanitarian agencies, and community-based organizations should improve sensitization, registration, and outreach, provide sustainable livelihood opportunities, and establish coordinated, regularly updated social protection systems to ensure the effective inclusion of forced migrants in available safety-net programmes.