West African Youth Challenges and Opportunity Pathways (Gender and Cultural Studies in Africa and the Diaspora)

This open-access edited collection, focusing on Ghana and Nigeria, offers a transatlantic, transnational exploration of barriers that threaten the wellbeing of West African youth--ranging from Black immigrant youth in the American city of Newark, New Jersey, to students in Almajiri Islamic schools in Northern Nigeria. Incorporating themes of migration, vulnerability, and agency and aspirations, the book conveys the resilience of African youth transitioning toward adulthood in a world of structural inequality. It thus crosses the academic divide between Youth Studies and African Studies, while challenging conventional framings of Black youth as deficient and deviant--positing instead their individual and collective creativity and assets. The contributors employ different methodological approaches, including field research and autoethnography, from varying multidisciplinary and practitioner perspectives Preface 6 Acknowledgments 8 Contents 11 Notes on Contributors 13 List of Figures 17 List of Tables 18 Chapter 1: Introduction 19 The Need for Comparative Research 21 “Youth” and “Development” 24 Migration 25 Agency and Aspirations 29 Vulnerability and Well-Being 33 References 37 Part I: Migration 43 Chapter 2: Education for All: The Case of Out-of-School Migrants in Ghana 44 Introduction 44 Literature Review 45 Definition of Terms 48 Methodology 49 Findings 50 Lack of Awareness of Fee-Free Education at the Basic Level 50 Temporary Migration as a Barrier to Education Access 52 Age at Immigration 53 Cultural/Religious Values 54 Gender Norms and Values 56 Economic Reasons 57 Unaccompanied Child Migrants 58 Begging Child Migrants 59 Seasonal Migration as a Barrier to Enrollment into Schools 61 Decision-Making and Education 63 Conclusion 63 References 65 Chapter 3: Irregular Migration as Survival Strategy: Narratives from Youth in Urban Nigeria 70 Background to the Study 70 Migration in Postcolonial Nigeria 73 Human Trafficking as a Form of Irregular Migration 74 Network Theory 76 Political Economy Theory of Migration 76 Data and Methods 78 Research Design 78 Location of the Study 78 Study Population 79 Sampling and Data Collection 79 Ethical Considerations 80 Sociodemographics of Participants 80 Results and Findings 81 Awareness and Attitude of Youth to Irregular Migration 81 Motivation to Migrate 83 Migration as Survival Strategy 84 Returnee Experiences During Migration 85 Role of Social Networks 86 Other Findings 87 Conclusion 89 References 91 Chapter 4: Untold Stories: Newark’s Burgeoning West African Population and the In-School Experiences of African Immigrant Youth 95 Introduction 95 Changing Demographic Makeup of the US Immigrant Population 97 Voluntary African Immigration to the United States 99 Understanding Newark’s African Youth Immigrant Experience 103 West African Students Within the Educational System 105 Conclusion 112 References 114 Part II: Agency and Aspirations 117 Chapter 5: “To Become Somebody in the Future”: Exploring the Content of University Students’ Goals in Nigeria 118 Introduction 118 Understanding Youth Goals 121 Context of the Study 123 Methods and Analysis 126 What Goals Do Young People Have? 127 Achievement Goals (Becoming Somebody) 128 Material Goals (Making It in Life) 130 Generativity Goals (Becoming a Voice) 133 Relationship Goals (Having Valuable Relationships) 135 How Important Are These Goals? 136 Gender Differentiation 137 Discussion and Conclusions 138 References 140 Chapter 6: Making Lives, Making Communities: Deaf Youth in Benin 145 Becoming Deaf 145 Notes on Methods and Terminology 147 Physiological Dimension 148 Geographical Dimension 149 Cultural Dimension 150 Social Dimension 151 Pathways to Becoming a Deaf Adult 154 On the Edge of a Deaf Community: Élie 156 Into the Deaf Family: Kiva 159 Achieving Through and Beyond the Deaf Community: Isaïe 162 Conclusions: Making a Life in Deaf Communities 164 References 167 Chapter 7: Someone Has to Tell These Children: “You Can Be As Good As Anybody!” 171 Introduction 171 Coming to Accra 171 Returning to the Village 176 Pursuing My Dream of Getting an Education 177 Moving Back to Accra 179 Starting on a New Path 179 Nneka Youth Foundation Is Born 180 Chapter 8: The Limits of Individual-Level Factors for Ghanaian and South African Girls’ Learning 184 The Barriers to Letting Girls Learn 184 Confidence as a Potential Solution? 185 A Case Study of Limpopo in South Africa 186 A Safe School 187 Reframing Failure to Help Girls Learn 190 Building Achievement-Oriented Identities in Ghana 191 Letting All Students Learn 193 Conclusion 195 References 195 Part III: Vulnerability and Well-Being 198 Chapter 9: Youth Employment and Labor Market Vulnerability in Ghana: Aggregate Trends and Determinants 199 Introduction 199 Review of Empirical Literature 202 Stylized Facts About the Ghanaian Labor Market 204 Demographic Profile of the Youth in Ghana 205 Labor Force Participation 205 Youth Unemployment 206 Vulnerability in the Labor Force Market 208 Conceptual Framework 209 Methodology 211 Measuring Vulnerability from Employment Status 211 Determining Why Youths Are More Vulnerable 212 Data 213 Empirical Results 214 An Assessment of the Vulnerability of Youths Vis-à-Vis Other Cohorts 214 Gender 214 Location 215 Education 216 Industry of Employment 217 Conclusion 218 Appendix 219 References 220 Chapter 10: The Role of “eTrash2Cash” in Curtailing “Almajiri” Vulnerability in Nigeria Through Waste Management Social Micro-entrepreneurship 224 Introduction 224 Description of Almajiranci in Northern Nigeria Today 226 Personal Experience on Almajiranci 230 Perceived Advantages and Impact of Almajiranci 231 Emergence of a Local Solution to Address Two Crises 233 The eTrash2Cash Initiative 237 Local Partners that Complement the Work of eTrash2Cash 239 Conclusion 240 References 241 Chapter 11: Burden, Drivers, and Impacts of Poor Mental Health in Young People of West and Central Africa: Implications for Research and Programming 243 Introduction 244 Burden of Mental and Substance Use Disorders in Young People of WCA 246 Sources of Data for Mental Disorders Among Young People in WCA 246 Burden of Mental Disorders Among Young People in WCA 247 Substance Use Disorders Among Young People in WCA 249 Drivers of Mental and Substance Use Disorders in Young People of WCA 250 Impacts of Mental and Substance Use Disorders in Young People of WCA 252 Mental Health Systems and Interventions 253 Mental Health Systems Services for Young People in WCA 253 Mental Health Interventions Available to Young People in WCA 254 Challenges of Promoting Mental Health for Young People in WCA 259 Gaps in Research and Programming 260 Implications for Research and Programming on Mental Health of Young People 261 Conclusion 262 References 264 Index 276 Front Matter ....Pages i-xix Introduction (Mora L. McLean)....Pages 1-24 Front Matter ....Pages 25-25 Education for All: The Case of Out-of-School Migrants in Ghana (Daniel Owusu Kyereko)....Pages 27-52 Irregular Migration as Survival Strategy: Narratives from Youth in Urban Nigeria (Lanre Olusegun Ikuteyijo)....Pages 53-77 Untold Stories: Newark’s Burgeoning West African Population and the In-School Experiences of African Immigrant Youth (Michael Simmons, Mahako Etta)....Pages 79-100 Front Matter ....Pages 101-101 “To Become Somebody in the Future”: Exploring the Content of University Students’ Goals in Nigeria (Dabesaki Mac-Ikemenjima)....Pages 103-129 Making Lives, Making Communities: Deaf Youth in Benin (Carsten Mildner)....Pages 131-156 Someone Has to Tell These Children: “You Can Be As Good As Anybody!” (Cecilia Fiaka)....Pages 157-169 The Limits of Individual-Level Factors for Ghanaian and South African Girls’ Learning (Sally A. Nuamah)....Pages 171-184 Front Matter ....Pages 185-185 Youth Employment and Labor Market Vulnerability in Ghana: Aggregate Trends and Determinants (Adedeji Adeniran, Joseph Ishaku, Adekunle Yusuf)....Pages 187-211 The Role of “eTrash2Cash” in Curtailing “Almajiri” Vulnerability in Nigeria Through Waste Management Social Micro-entrepreneurship (Alh. Muhammad Salisu Abdullahi)....Pages 213-231 Burden, Drivers, and Impacts of Poor Mental Health in Young People of West and Central Africa: Implications for Research and Programming (Kenneth Juma, Frederick Murunga Wekesah, Caroline W. Kabiru, Chimaraoke O. Izugbara)....Pages 233-265 Back Matter ....Pages 267-271 This open access edited collection explores obstacles that impede, and potential pathways toward improving, the material and psychological well-being of youth in and from West Africa. Contributors range from researchers to practitioners, offering a transatlantic, transcontinental set of perspectives on the mounting evidence that, whether they reside in poor "underdeveloped" or wealthier (OECD) countries, young people who live in poverty and are African-born or of African descent are disproportionately burdened by the global phenomenon of increasing income inequality. Mora McLean is Co-Adjutant in the Office of the Chancellor and Office of Globally Engaged Experiential Learning at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, USA