Five years ago, Samira Ishaq left her house in Kano to work in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, tracing a route pursued by tens of millions of Nigerian migrants.
She borrowed almost N800,000 from relatives and engaged a local recruitment agent that bought her flight ticket, secured a work visa, and promised her a job.
Separated from her husband a decade ago, she thought the only way to escape the constant pressure of getting married again was to go far away from home. Barely a year after moving to Riyadh, Ms Ishaq repaid the agent and since then, has shared the money she is making in Saudi Arabia with her father and siblings to look after themselves.
Last year, Ms Ishaq and millions of other Nigerians abroad sent home a record $20.1 billion. At the current official market rate of N767 per US dollars, the amount is equivalent to N15.3 trillion.
This is the highest amount sent to any country in Sub-Saharan Africa, according to the World Bank’s latest Migration and Development Brief.
The process of sending money to family members or friends in one’s home country, otherwise known as remittances, is a lifeline for many migrant workers around the world.
For Ms Ishaq, this has always been a dream: “to be financially comfortable and be able to support her parents,” she said, adding, “I also have savings which I am going to use to set up businesses in Nigeria.”
Not only do remittances aid in the prosperity of individual households — helping to pay for things like food, education, and other bills — they are also vital to the prosperity of many developing economies around the world.
Credit: premiumtimesng.com
