Page 10 - CITN 2017 Journal

perceived as having the potential to contribute to development, what is the relationship
between migrant remittances and macroeconomic variables that drive development?
What, for instance, is the impact of increased remittances on the provision of social
infrastructure (e.g., education and health) which has the capacity to drive and accelerate
the process of development? In other words, what is the relationship between increased
migrant remittances and human capital development defined in this context to mean those
human capacities including education and health that can raise people's productive
capabilities in Nigeria? If migrant remittances will impact social infrastructure, in what
direction and magnitude will such effect(s) be? Will increases in migrant remittances lead
to expansion in the production possibility frontiers of a country? What are the
macroeconomic impacts of migrant remittances on development in Nigeria?
Following the introduction, the remaining sections are organised as follows: section two
discusses the relevant literature, section three articulates the research methodology, the
pre-occupation of section four is the model estimation, analysis and interpretation of
result, while the last section is the summary, conclusion and recommendation.
The period covered by this study (1980-2015) was characterized by a series of government
restructuring programmes (e.g., structural adjustment programme, commercialization and
privatization of government enterprises) which resulted in massive loss of jobs by public
sector employees, political instability in the wake of the annulment of the June 12, 1994
Federal Elections and persecution of perceived enemies of the Abacha-led government
which exacerbated and heightened tension and insecurity of lives and property, the Niger
Delta crisis caused, in the main, by issues of perceived marginalization of ethnic
minorities, inequity in resource allocation and environmental degradation, etc.

These factors and the series of military coups (e.g., Buhari-led coup of 1983,
Babangida-led coup of 1985, Shonekan-led Interim government, Abacha-led
coup of 1993 and Abubakar-led coup of 1997), contributed significantly to a
growth in migration of both skilled and unskilled Nigerians to other countries of
the world, particularly the UK, USA and Canada. Many of these migrants did not
leave with their family members. Demonstrating their altruistic tendencies, most
of them have continued to remit funds to support their families.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

There has been growing literature on how migrant remittances can affect households and
some have documented how migrants have contributed to economic and social
development in their country of origin. A number of the studies were based on surveys
conducted to determine the impact of migrant remittances on some variables. For instance,
the empirical investigation on the use of informal remittances conducted by Alburo and
Abella using information from a questionnaire-based survey of a sample of 600 returnee
migrant workers in Philippines showed how informal remittance by workers impacted the
economy (Alburo & Abella, 2002). They found that informal remittance, as foreign
exchange, were used to finance trade and they had same impact as formal flows. Also, an
IMF Country Analysis Report (Russell, et al 2002) suggests that remittances from abroad
are increasingly crucial to the survival of communities in many less developed countries.
Russell et al therefore concluded that once subsistence needs are satisfied, migrants do use
remittances for investment purposes, including education, livestock farming and small
scale enterprises.

Some of the studies also used mathematical explanations or econometric models to drive
home their apriori expectation of a positive relationship between human capital and

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