Igbo Women in the Diaspora and Community Development in Southeastern Nigeria: Gender, Migration, and Development in Africa

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Gender, Migration and Development in Africa: Igbo Women in the Diaspora and Community Development in Southeastern Nigeria provides a unique approach to the study of the role of Igbo women in the diaspora to community development in Igboland. Utilizing primary sources, specifically, migration stories of women and the groups they form in the United States and other parts of the world, the book highlights the dynamism in the zeal to give back to their communities of origin in Igboland. The book seeks to affirm the propensity of Igbo women to evolve through personal efforts and formation of social groups to extend humanitarian services to underprivileged individuals and societies in Igboland. Through several community development programs, they have provided needed medical and educational supplies, hospital equipment, supplies and sponsored several medical missions in different parts of the Igboland. This book further counters the previously understudied role of women in development. Through a comprehensive documentation of the various programs and projects completed by the groups and individual charities, readers and policy makers will be inspired to appreciate the efforts of the various groups and extend needed support and assistance to the groups. The findings in the book reveal the increasing shift from the brain drain concept to brain circulation and networking within the Igbo women community. They are positively utilizing the skills and resources acquired from their host communities to engage in the development processes through remittances and social development projects. The study reinforces the trends and ideas that the improvement of African societies may well depend on the contributions of Africans outside the continent, especially women.

Reviews

Uniquely significant in its revisionist approach and intriguing reframing of the socially-constructed traditional role of women as homemakers, this study blazes the trail not only as a gender-based exploration of international migration but also as a compelling analysis on how African diaspora communities are turning brain drain into brain gain through vigorous engagement in their places of origin. A must-read! -- Apollos O. Nwauwa, Bowling Green State University
Sussie U. Aham-Okoro has presented a complex and fascinating account of migrant Igbo women of southeastern Nigeria in the Washington DC Metropolitan Area, 19952015, who through hard work and their community-based associations turned brain drain into brain gain and brain circulation as they acquired new skills and knowledge from higher education and training, and pursued social and economic development of their communities in the United States and Igbo homeland. The inspiring personal narratives of nine of such women underscore the empiricism and originality of the study. Igbo Women in the Diaspora and Community Development is a refreshing addition to the scholarship on Igbo women, migration, and globalization that will be of interest to students, scholars, policy makers, and the general readership. -- Gloria Chuku, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Author Bio

Sussie U. Aham-Okoro is adjunct professor of African American history and political science at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, Howard University, and Strayer University.