Labour Migrations

Abstract This study examined how labour migrations, which provide a veritable platform for nation-building, has been thwarted in Nigeria by the political elite through the politics of indigene-settler phenomenon. Though extant studies had examined the indigene-settler syndrome, the prospects of labour migration for nation-building in the country, which this entails, has been understudied. This paper, therefore, provides an insightful investigation into how the intricate web of politics of inclusion, exclusion, and deprivations between the indigenes and labour migrants or settlers in various states has tended to thwart nation-building efforts in the country. The study argues that the indigene-settler phenomenon undermines the facilitative capacity of labour migration for the actualization of the nation’s productive potentials and the construction of a common nationhood. It found that the indigene-settler syndrome is an elite construct to advance and protect their economic and political interests within the polity. It further contends that the elite’s coincidence of interests over scarce resources leads to inter-elite competition in which the indigeneity card is deployed as a potent politico-economic tool to gain advantage over contending elites. The study advocates for inclusive politics as the route to true nationhood devoid of mistrust, fears of marginalization and acrimonious competition for power.