THE attraction for greener pasture abroad reflects the dysfunctionality in our home country caused by unemployment, poverty, unstable power supply, insecurity, and lack of basic infrastructure. As noted in our previous publications, the rate at which young, highly skilled, talented, experienced as well as newly qualified personnel in key professions are leaving the shores of Nigeria for foreign countries is worrisome.  For instance, a 2022 survey by Africa Polling Institute indicates that 69% of Nigerians would relocate out of the country with their families if given the chance.  The poll further showed that as conditions have worsened in the country, more Nigerians are getting out. Europe and North America are the top destinations for resettlement. The number of “Worker” visas in the UK issued to Nigerians shot up by 399% comparing 2019 to the year ending September 2022.

ACCORDING to The Hope, worst hit by the exodus includes the banking, health, ICT, and education sectors. Recent data gathered from these sectors showed that 80 percent of the remaining workers in the sectors are preparing to leave. With the resumption of academics in schools in America and Europe come August and September, it is expected that the number of Nigerians leaving the country will double. Factors fueling the exodus according to investigations include the desire for better working conditions, career fulfillment, insecurity, harsh economy among others. This has left us a huge vacuum and deficit in critical sectors.

FINDINGS showed that in the health sector, about 7,256 Nigerian nurses have relocated to the United Kingdom between March 2021 and March 2022, indicating that 600 Nurses leave the country for the UK alone every month. Out of the 74,543 registered Doctors in Nigeria with a population of about 200 million, the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria revealed that 33,000 left the country amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021. The number of Nigeria-trained doctors in the UK currently stands at 9,976, it added. In America, there are 3,895 Nigerian-trained doctors licensed to practice Medicine as of 2020 while the Association of Nigerian Physicians in America, has over 4,000 members who are physicians, dentists, and allied health professionals of Nigerian birth in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean.

IN the ICT sector, reports showed that about 500 software engineers have left the country since the beginning of this year. In the banking sector, findings showed that over 1,000 ICT technical engineers have resigned and moved abroad. The list could go on as able-bodied and talented Nigerians from all sectors including artisans are leaving in droves. It is not outrightly bad to work abroad because some go there to update their skills like Prof. Ekwueme, a United Kingdom (UK) based Consultant Urologist and Robotic Surgeon, who has relocated to Nigeria to provide expertise on prostate related issues. If the home is conducive, there won’t be massive exodus. The major attraction is salary, enabling environment, security, and provision of basic amenities in those countries.

TO prevent a mass exodus of doctors and paramedics from Nigeria, the National Assembly has introduced a bill preventing health workers from leaving from the country for the first five years after graduation. But it has generated a heated debate. The bill which was passed its second reading in the House of Representatives, is expected to be amended after some lawmakers opposed the bill, saying it was in violation of fundamental rights. While we agree that this emigration of Nigerian professionals has grave implications for the nation, halting the trend by force through legislation, like the current process in the health sector, may not be the best option. This is because professionals, as citizens, have the right to ply their trade anywhere they so desire.

IT is true that government at all levels subsidize health training in the country, which is capital intensive, but such involvement is not total as the trainees still pay in their various medical schools. Government moves to legally prevent trained medical professionals from seeking employment outside the country for five years after their induction can only be logical if it funds 100 percent their training and makes the beneficiaries to sign a bond to that effect.

 ANOTHER route government can take to halt the ugly trend is for it to enter bilateral engagements with countries benefiting from the drain, in order to curtail the exodus. Beyond this, and more importantly, urgent deliberate steps should be taken to improve the working conditions and welfare of key professionals in critical sectors like health and education, particularly by way of commensurate salaries.