Lagos - The United States of America and the United Kingdom top the list of countries most Nigerians abroad live in compared to other countries in the world.
This is according to findings from a latest snap survey, which suggests North America and Europe the two major continents most Nigerians abroad dwell in.
According to NOIPOlls, which conducted the survey, the larger proportion of respondents reported they had relatives/friends living the United States of America (67 percent).
This is followed by 43 percent of the respondents who indicated they have relatives/friends living in the United Kingdom. Other countries indicated by respondents include; South Africa (31 percent), Gambia (31 percent), Canada (16 percent), Malaysia (12 percent) and Germany (12 percent) among other countries.
“While this finding cannot be used to provide absolute figures on immigration, it suggests a high level of migration of Nigerians to foreign countries,” NOIPolls stated on Tuesday.
The firm said more findings revealed that most respondents believed Nigerians living abroad were better off in foreign countries with regards to economic opportunities (66 percent), financial stability (66 percent) and living conditions (63 percent); and worse off in terms of social interactions.
However, there were variations in these perceptions by continents; for instance, while all respondents (100 percent) who have relatives/friends living in Australia and South America perceive the living conditions of Nigerians to be better off in foreign countries, slightly more than half of the respondents who have relatives/friends in Africa share this same perception.
In addition, while 84 percent of the respondents (accounting for the largest proportion) who have relatives/friends in Asia believe Nigerians abroad are better in terms of financial stability, 62 percent (representing the least proportion) of respondents who have relatives in North America share this same perception.
The opinion poll was conducted in the week of April 27.
It involved telephone interviews of a random nationwide sample. A total of 1 000 randomly selected phone-owning Nigerians aged 18 years and above, representing the six geopolitical zones in the country, were interviewed.
“With a sample of this size, we can say with 95 percent confidence that the results obtained are statistically precise - within a range of plus or minus 3 percent,” NOIPolls stated.
Source: CAJ News