The brain drain

I’ve been hearing about the brain drain since I was a kid 30 years ago. There is no evidence that, asides from a short period between 2007 and 2015 when many people including me returned to Nigeria, that it has reversed. As a matter of fact, quite a number of the people who returned at about the same time as I did have gone back. I have been tempted as well, but when I came back to Nigeria, I changed my career, and I really like what I do now…

Anyway, the thing is, the brain drain from Nigeria is encouraged by a number of factors, which can all be summarised by a three-word phrase, “unfavourable work environment”.

Consider this — just yesterday, Immigrations stopped 58 doctors from leaving the country. Kind of surprising considering that just over a year ago, the labour minister told the same doctors that they were free to bugger off if they wanted to. Mr Ngige, who happens to be a doctor himself, said this a few months after his colleague (now former), also a doctor, had told the doctors that they were free to abandon their medical degrees and become tailors.

These two examples of nonchalance are the kind of signalling that make everyone who wants to leave to accelerate such plans, and the annoying thing is that the Nigerian state really does not care about talent retention. It only cares about talent once you go abroad and start doing well.

This is the focus of my latest column for Financial Nigeria, where I tell the stories of three people — Adesida Ilesanmi, who left Nigeria in the 1970s, Grace Anigbata, who has yet to leave (as far as I know, but is almost certainly on the way out), and Tani Adewumi who left in 2017, and as is our wont, has now been recognised by Abike Dabiri because he is now doing great things in another man’s land. Let’s ask ourselves an honest question: if young Tani had remained in Abuja, would he have ever seen a chessboard?

A country that cannot retain talent, and even worse, does not appreciate talent, will never go anywhere.