Migration and Diasporic Experiences in Chika Unigwe’s On Black Sisters Street

Abstract

Diasporic literature has a socio political consequence and essence for every contemporary society, as it captures the movement of people across time and space. In Africa, especially in Nigeria, migration is occasioned by so many factors. The problem of migration and immigration has been a long engaging aspect of African literature, as a result of this, studying the issues associated with migration in literature enhances the understanding of the experiences encountered by people found in this situation. These factors form the psyche of the migrating character. Over the years, Nigerian writers have viewed the diaspora, migration, its challenges and effects on the average African individual from a problematic perspective. Diaspora is regarded as the dispersion of a large number of people from one continent to the other. Writers from African especially in Nigeria see the concept of diaspora as a muster point where they all gather to discuss migrations issues as a predominant problem in the Nigeria. This research aim at pointing out the root causes, reasons and effects of migration and diaspora experiences on the average African person. This paper portray efforts made by the researcher to give an introduction to literature and its significance in x-raying the various happenings in the society especially as it affects migrating individuals. The researcher also looked at the contributions of several scholars to this study. The data for this study was gotten from both primary and secondary sources which formed a collective collation of ideas as an attempt to do a good study. The theoretical framework used in this study is realism which represents true life experiences in literature. The methodology adopted in this research is a qualitative methodology. Chika Unigwe’s On Black Sisters Street is the chosen work understudy. This study discovered that young African men and women especially in Nigeria, are victims of unemployment, poverty and victims of distorted upbringing which influences them into seeking for a better life abroad. This study discovers that these migrants suffer from social injustice, social inequality, unemployment and all kinds of harassment in an attempt to make ends meet as their host countries treat them as plagues; many did not survive. To this effect, parents, the society and the government ought to find a way out of the tentacles that that rob these young people from making a living in their fatherland by creating job opportunities and skill acquisition platforms; to equip the young ones with the right tools for successful living in their country