ABSTRACT
The phenomenon of internal migration is the least investigated in demographic enquiries in Nigeria. This chapter examines the results of a case study on the type of social and economic links between urban in-migrants and their 'home' households, the role of migration and its impact on the wider society in south-western Nigeria. Both 'subjective' and 'objective' approaches have been employed in seeking to explain migration behavior. And to investigate the pattern of residence of migrants on their first arrival in town, the frequency of home visits, frequency and amount of remittance of money home, and the use to which the remittances are put. This case study shows that rural–urban migration can forge strong links between the rural and the urban areas. In south-western Nigeria most urban in-migrants belong to 'improvement unions' set up to promote self-help schemes such as building hospitals, roads, schools, providing electricity etc. in their home villages, and thus to serve as development agencies.
