The adaptation of migrants to Owerri urban conditions

Abstract:

The adaptation of migrants to Owerri urban conditions Information gathered through a Sociological Snuestigation of the processes of adaptation of migrant6 b Ckiarri Urbaar aordik* showed that O w r r i Urban wpulation, i n this thesis, is made up as follows: 1. 'Lyle 'indi.jenes or natives of O w e r r i 2. The "indigenized strangerstt or those who epitomize the e a r l i e s t migrants to O w e r r i . These have obsorbed Owerri customsand traditions and are now totally assimilated and integrated into the Owcrti Society. 3. Migrants from different ethnic groups and the fi vulnerable group who migr~ted to O ~ t r r r i to satisfy business, trading, professional and job-opportunity reeds, among others. The investigation showed that migrants have caw to satisfy ethod of investigation included the qucstionnclire anB persarwl irSerc4iiou, Although their biggest problem is housing, migrants aclapt easily through the fallowing mechanisms: They creete invading squattersettlements called the Itbnchastt f o r t h e i r accommodation, They squat in offices; markets; churches; with kSns and friends. They form associations. They take on any available job to earn daily bread, and embrace problems with the belief that they are transitory. The writer had used the European - initiatedas a basis for placing O w e r r i , the 'If processes, Daoed on the survewithinYI majcurban centre d e lkhan developmentnigranta ere Igbos, who come primarily from various rural areas into Owerri Urban Area. They include c i v i l servants, teachers, tradesmen, businessmen, jobseekers, and so on. Most of them have migrated from local comnunities North of Owerri. Evidence gathered suggest the existence of an impoverished, stagnated, neglected, depopulated, and inse countryside without job opportunities and modern amerlities. Many of these migrants, including office attendants in the c i v i l service, are relatively poor, lower-class people with considerable economic, educational, and cultural variations* and differ4 nces in the degree of urban sophistication. Urban conditions in Owcrri r e f l e c t those known to them in the rural areas, phenomena which made their adaptation relatively easier, By this is meant forrural features persist in Owerri.Although some natives are tagged xenophobic, the observation is that Owerri urban society has proved very helpful and even open to migrants in the matter of accommodation. !I mingling of the various migrant groups does not suggest the of a conflict situation. Bather, what exists is only a competitlv~atmosphere where individual orient their lives towards the strugglefor survival in the urban milieu,The Urbanization of O w e r r i since the end of the civil increased, but arising from We findimp, it is suggested that government should embark on the construction of "prefabricatedw houses as o means to mitigate the acute housj-ng problem in OlrJerri. Rural migration could also be checked by redressing rural-urban imbalance. Data tare shown of the origins and tm3es of migrants*