THE NIGERIAN DIASPORA IN GUANGZHOU: ORIGIN AND CHARACTERISTICS

Abstract

The Nigerian diaspora in Guangzhou has a very interesting history and sociology. As to origin, the diasporic core was formed by the pioneer migrants who are known in the diaspora’s lingo as “sanpaâ€. Roughly speaking, the sanpaera spanned a decade, beginning in 1997 and ending in 2007. As to sociology, the diaspora, which is arguably the largest African national population in China, is young, moderately educated and has a preponderance of males, Christians and Igbo migrants. While issues such as visa overstay, intermarriage and participation in Nigeria’s trade with China have been substantially researched, very little attention has been paid to the origin and sociology of this diaspora. This paper is an effort to fill this critical gap in research. Its intended goal is to extricate the history and sociology of this diaspora from neglect and obscurity. The data mostly came from the fieldwork conducted in Guangzhou during 2013-2017.