STATE OF THE NATION: Nigeria And The Curse Of Brain Drain

OPINION: Nigeria And The Curse Of Brain Drain

One of the lessons that can be drawn from the fall of Kabul, the mountainous capital of Afghanistan, to the Taliban is the great importance this hardline Islamist group attached to Afghan experts such as doctors and engineers in their country. Recall that the Taliban that were removed from power in Afghanistan by the US-led forces in 2001 regrouped and seized control of the country once again after a swift offensive on August 15, 2021, thereby bringing to a sudden end about 20 years of a US-led coalition’s presence in the country.

Prior to the removal of the Taliban regime from power back in 2001, it was alleged that the regime harboured the Al-Qaeda terrorist group that carried out the largest scale terror attack in the US soil on September 11, 2001. The fall of the regime in 2001, subsequently ushered in a new realm of westernisation and democratisation of the country which was hitherto ruled based on the tenets of the Islamic law. Soon after the reclaiming of the country by the Taliban on that fateful day of August 15, 2021, several Afghans fled the country in droves due to the fear of being killed or persecuted by the Islamic fundamentalists. Amid the exodus, the Taliban warned the US to stop taking Afghan experts out of the country as refugees. Apparently, the Taliban recognises the importance of these experts in their country and new regime.

Meanwhile, saner climes have astutely established some programmes whose ultimate aim is to scout for the best brains across the globe and lure them to their domains. These programmes come in the form of refugee programmes, visa lotteries, skilled migrant visas, international exchange programmes, fellowships, scholarships and the like. And Africans have been among the greatest beneficiaries. Unlike the Trans-Atlantic and Trans-Saharan slave trade of the 16th to 19th century that involved the forceful shipment of enslaved able-bodied African people to Europe, Middle East and the Americas to engage in slave labour, this advanced form of slave trade takes the form of ‘brain drain’. For clarity purposes, the term brain drain is a slang suggesting substantial emigration of skilled people out of a country. The availability of better professional opportunities in other countries, a crippled national economy, turmoil within a nation, a desire to seek better education and higher standard of living, insecurity, human rights violations and high unemployment rates are just few of the reasons people emigrate out of their countries to greener pastures. Sadly, Africa still remains one of the greatest casualties of this advanced form of slave trade.

Over the years, Africa has been robbed of her best brains and able-bodied people who despairingly migrate out of the continent in droves to saner climes to search for better opportunities. The IMF’s World Economic Outlook of 2017 reported an increasing number of African migrants in the OECD countries. Moreover, studies show that Africa loses about $2bn annually due to professionals and executives migrating to countries such as the United States of America, Britain, Australia, and Canada. While Africa is remarkably losing from brain drain, the host countries for emigrating Africans notably benefit from such trained experts. This scenario has continued to have a debilitating effect on the growth and socio-economic development of the continent. To be sure, the predominance of athletes of Nigerian descent who represented other countries in the just concluded Tokyo 2020 Olympic tournament was revealing. The recent airlifting of an indigenous drone maker out of Nigeria to start a new career in Finland and the viral video of officials from the Ministry of Health of Saudi Arabia conducting recruitment for the striking Nigerian resident doctors in Abuja, are some of such handy instances. The most heart wrenching among the instances is that of the resident doctors in Nigerian public hospitals who have been on an indefinite strike since August 2, 2021 over grievances that border on delayed payment of salaries and allowances, with the end not in view.

As important as the role of these doctors is to the health and well-being of Nigerians, one would have expected a speedy resolution of the bone of contention by the Federal Government. This is never the case! Alas, Saudi Arabia, a country that values excellence, instantly seized the opportunity and moved in to recruit and ship these doctors to their abode. As this scornful news filtered through the social media, many Nigerians watched in incredulity. Certainly, this must have served as an embarrassment to the powers that be. Consequently, the DSS was alleged to have invaded the venue of the recruitment and dispersed the recruiters and the doctors – an allegation which was later on refuted by the DSS publicly. Then, the million dollar question is: Who else could have embarked on that face-saving mission, manoeuvring the tight security framework and protocols in that hotel to disperse persons carrying out their legitimate activities? Undoubtedly, those that carried out that mission were not commoners; they must have acted on orders from above. And the mission might have been a well-thought-out scheme.

Who knows, after the Saudis, the Taliban may be the next in line to call and recruit what is left of our doctors and other experts considering the fact that a substantial number of their experts have fled their country soon after their takeover of power.

Data obtained from the General Medical Council of Britain highlighted that about 4,528 Nigerian-trained doctors have registered with the council in order to obtain licence to practise in the UK. In Saudi Arabia and the US, on the other hand, the story is also the same. A lot of Nigeria-trained doctors and other experts abound there.

Thus, the adoption of a kinetic approach such as the primitive invasion of the recruitment centre and dispersing the recruiters and doctors is not an ideal way to end the devastating menace of brain drain in the nation, especially in the health sector. These doctors will definitely find an alternative means to escape out of the shores of the country unless something drastic is done urgently.

That being said, the onus is on the authorities, and of course other African leaders, to holistically address the root causes of the existential brain drain. Now is the time to act fast before it gets too late!

Duruibe, a researcher and financial analyst based in Owerri, Imo State, wrote in via duruibestan82@yahoo.co.uk