Understanding the Dynamics of Migrant Traders in Seasonal Micro Businesses in Maiduguri. A Pilot Study

This paper discusses reason, motivations and alternative measures for migrants seasonal micro businesses in Maiduguri, using quantitative approach. Three elements were identified and used as determining factors of the dynamics of migrant traders, these are; reasons why they venture into the seasonal trade, motivation for migrating to Maiduguri and the alternative measures of livelihood after every season as independent variables. The study used a survey method, thus the researcher randomly administered 50 questionnaires to seasonal traders in Maiduguri. According to Diamantopoulos, Sarstedt, Fuchs, Wilczynski and Kaiser’s (2012) recommendation, an acceptable number of questionnaire to be administered for a pilot test ranges between 30 to 100. Validity of the instruments were scrutinised by professionals in the field of management and their observations were used in modifying the items of the questionnaire. Similarly, to present the results of the pilot test, the data was analysed using SPSS v.20 and the findings confirmed the reliability of the questionnaire adapted for the study. The adapted questionnaire for this study has not suffer muti-collinearity and thus, shows the reliability of the study instrument, which addressed the each specific objectives. According with Hair, Hult, Ringle and Sarstedt (2014) and Sekaran and Bougie (2013), a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.60 is considered as an average reliability whereas 0.70 and above indicates a high reliability. The results shows the instruments of Reasons for Seasonal Trade has a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.631, having 6 instruments, Motivation for Seasonal Trade has a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.685 with 6 instruments, while Alternative Measure for Migrant Trade with the Cronbach’s alpha of 0.658, having 5 instruments. The study has practical implication for policy makers, regulators, micro business operators and other stakeholders. The study further adds to the frontier of knowledge on the importance of the dynamic nature of migrant traders in strengthening their operations.