ABSTRACT
This Chapter looks at institutionalised migration as an economic factor, and its role in the supply urban surplus labour, a key actor in the dual economy. Cultural conceptions and attitudes about time, and the activities of expatriate and local business groups in the dual economy are central to the discussion in the chapter. Because of the poor treatment of labour in the factories, the ultimate goal of most employees is to return to the informal sector as soon as they acquired sufficient capital capable of starting business. Cultural conceptions about past, present, and future exercise strong influences on entrepreneurial investment policies. The chapter analysed the patterns of seasonal labour fluctuation, in particular, and their impact on the business sector in Kano and northern Nigeria as a whole. Business groups of Middle East origin especially Lebanese and Syrian were seen as more assimilable than other expatriate groups.
