Brain Drain in Nigeria, Brain Gain Abroad: Why Everyone Should be Worried?

The upsurge of brain drain in Nigeria poses a huge risk to its development, especially in the health, education and I.T. sectors. The growth and development of a nation rest on the shoulders of those who can positively impact various facets of society to engineer economic progress in the short and long run, but Nigeria is losing its brightest minds to developed economies, where they are better paid, appreciated and treasured.

There has been an influx of Nigerian professionals to the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and other more developed economies seeking better career opportunities at the expense of the development of Africa’s most populated nation.

Healthcare, education and Information Technology are vital areas that drive the growth of a modern economy. A collapse of these sectors will imply a colossal economic disaster for any nation. Having said this, with the alarming rate of brain drain in Nigeria, the country is sitting on a keg of gun powder.

Experts are worried over the continuous abandonment of competent young potentials leaving Nigeria to assist in developing other countries as Nigeria battles poverty, poor health care, an epileptic educational sector, with no interest in research, innovation and sustainable development.

The high demand for skilled labour in developed countries with good career opportunities has led to the brain drain in Nigeria. Competent and vastly experienced Nigerians in various sectors of the economy feel undervalued, and rightly so. As a result, they jump at any chance of relocating abroad. And this is coupled with the rate of unemployment and underemployment in the country.

The export of different trade and career professionals to these countries has negatively impacted Nigeria while becoming a substantial economic benefit for their host country.

Brain drain in Nigeria, huge gains for the US

Hundreds of Nigerians are breaking boundaries and setting the pace across different sectors of America’s economy. Some are even on President Joe Biden’s economic team. This article highlights a tiny fraction of them.

Philip Emeagwali

He is an award-winning computer scientist who produced high-performance computing applications in oil reservoir modelling calculations using a novel mathematical formulation and implementation.

Osatohanmwen Osemwengie

Before he travelled to the U.S. decades ago, he was an administrator at the Benin City College of Education. He is now a renowned physicist who produces drones for the U.S. Army. Osemwengie reportedly has four graduate degrees, four PhDs and six Master’s degrees in software engineering. He’s the founder of the Open Robotics University, the world’s first tuition-free institution licenced by the U.S. to award engineering degrees.

Elvis Peterside

He is a Professor of Pediatrics and Neonatology at the University of Pennsylvania Medical school. In 2020, he was named America’s Best Physician by the U.S. National Consumer Advisory Board. He’s also a Consultant at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, regarded as one of the best Children’s Hospitals in the world.

Oluyinka Olutoye

He is a Nigerian fetal and pediatric surgeon. He’s currently the Surgeon-in-chief at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital in the U.S., reported to be the largest children’s hospital surgery department in the world. In 2016, Olutoye co-led a team of 21 doctors to carry out a groundbreaking surgery that attracted international attention. They removed a large tumour from a newborn’s tailbone.

These are some of the losses for Nigeria but a huge gain in the knowledge bank of the United States.

Beyond economic issues

Nigeria’s economy is increasingly finding it very difficult to hold on to its brightest talents in the Health, Education and Information Technology sectors

A report by the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada in 2018 indicates that Nigeria has the most asylum claims in Canada. The highest and nearly twice the number for India for asylum. A rising number of Nigerians are applying to Canada via express entry yearly to work, reside, and consequently develop the Canadian economy.

Although some Nigerian professionals who have relocated abroad are still struggling to find their feet, it hasn’t changed the narrative and preference for these “juicy” career destinations. This implies that brain drain in Nigeria is not necessarily for economic reasons alone.

Some leave to become dual citizens of a more developed nation while others go to raise their family, especially their children in saner climes, to afford them citizenship and better opportunities for the future.

Brain drain in Nigeria is also attributed to rising cases of insecurity in nearly all parts of the country and the abysmal healthcare system.

In 2016, the World Bank declared Nigeria the “poverty capital of the world.” The situation has worsened in 2022. Over 40 percent of the entire population wallows in squalor and misery. According to UNICEF, due to terrorism, Nigeria has over 10 million out of school children in the world, the highest number globally.

Nigeria has the highest infant mortality rate in the world for children within the ages of 0-5 years old, according to a World Health Organization (WHO) report. These alarming statistics are enough reasons for brain drain in Nigeria.

There are concerns about inadequate funding in Nigeria’s healthcare facilities, coupled with poor remuneration for health care workers. This also applies in the education sector, with frequent friction between the unions and the government. The government has allegedly failed to support research funding and innovations. Hence, professionals with better opportunities abroad would leave.

The way forward

Governments at all levels must improve the socio-economic standard in Nigeria. There is a need to improve the country’s development indicators like poverty, unemployment, income inequality, and unequal opportunities for women, poor governance structure to ensure Nigerians benefit and enjoy purposeful leadership.

The level of education and health care system in Nigeria has to improve with good support for investment in these sectors. The welfare packages and remuneration for critical sectors that are the driving pillars for development should be reviewed and improved upon.

The government should engage stakeholders in these sectors to outline challenges and identify sustainable solutions to the continued brain drain in Nigeria.