#Aribigbola's Lines

My fear for the future

By Afolabi Aribigbola

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Last week, the media  was inundated with the scary information that over 600 medical personnel have withdrawn their services from the premier medical college, the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan and have relocated abroad. Earlier in the year, Doctors in Federal Medical Centre, Owo threatened to embark on strike because of overwork resulting from shortage of doctors.

Of course,they revealed that many of their bright promising and well trained colleagues have eloped to better climes where their services and commitment to work will be better appreciated and adequately rewarded. Also, earlier in 2022, Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and other unions in all public universities went on strike for a number of reasons including poor working environment and dismal remuneration. Unfortunately, that of ASUU went on for about eight months without any concrete concern and actions to resolve the impasse. At the end of the unnecessary long strike, eight whole months were wasted.

The crisis is still on anyway without any positive efforts or genuine action to resolve it. Consequently, the present situation in the Nigerian university system is pathetic and regrettable because several experienced and seasoned academics have abandoned the country for greener pastures elsewhere. Some even relocated to other poorer African countries that appreciate and appropriately reward them for their competences and valuable services. Indeed, I interacted with several young academics recently and found out that virtually all of them are ready to relocate from Nigeria.

 This presupposes that the future of research and development of the country is bleak and by extension the country itself. Of course, JAPA syndrome in which many experienced middle level workers in the banking sector are leaving their jobs and country to other countries are still fresh. Activities in most of the Nigerian banks are now being manned by new and inexperienced workers. I visited a bank recently, where I observed a lady moving round to guide and assist about five other staff in the discharge of their duties. It is a manifestation of loss of competent hands by the banks to the massive migration currently confronting the country.

 The future of Nigerian institutions as depicted above is a pointer to the bleak future awaiting the country and her citizens. At the end of the day those moving away from the country are depleting her resources to enrich other societies receiving the migrants. They will contribute to the growth and sustained development of the societies. Nigeria is actually losing while others are gaining from our unserious and unorganised use or misuse of the country’s God given resources. Ultimately, the cumulative effect is that the country will continue to go down and may eventually collapse.

Afterall, some societies have gone into oblivion or loose their positions in the past. This very fate can befall the country if efforts are not made to redress the anomaly going on with migration from the country.

The relocation syndrome from Nigeria is so loud and clear that obtaining the Nigerian international passport nowadays is a herculean task. The situation is even worse at the embassies of the major countries that most Nigerians often prefer to travel to. People have to now part with a huge sums of money to get interview date and appointments in these embassies. Unfortunately, and regrettably too this scary revelation and ugly development seems not to bother or attract the attention of the leadership of the country as a crisis situation. One of them once said that migration out of the country is normal and another said recently that the federal government cannot stop Nigerians that seek to migrate out of the country.

Of course, migration out of the country can only be normal when it is reciprocal. The truth is that well trained and experienced hands are vacating the country without replacement as nobody is coming to Nigeria from other countries in exchange. The movement is unidirectional. This is at variance with what was obtainable in the 1970s and 80s when Nigeria was a veritable destination for Africans, Asians to work and earn a living wage. The situation now is a reversal of the positive trends of that period.

Indeed, why has the fortune of Nigeria become this worse? Why are the leaders of the country finding it difficult or refusing to address the issue with the urgency required. Also, what do we need to do as a people to reverse this potentially volcanic and dangerous trend.? Of course, if nothing concrete is done to arrest the situation, the precarious situation of the country that is already worse will continue to go further down the precipice. So far, we have argued that the country is toeing a dangerous path that is capable of destroying the very essence and socio-economic fabrics of the country that is pushing some of her best brains to relocate to other climes.

The spate and escalating migration from the country must be stopped or drastically reduce to retain those that can further its prosperity. To stem the exodus from Nigeria, secure its prosperity and secure a future for the country as well as her citizen, we need to rework and reorganize the critical sectors of the national space economy of the country. In the first place, the country must first identify why the people relocate from the country.

A large proportion of those leaving the country are in search of education which unfortunately and most of the time are available in the country. All that is required is to develop and strengthen the sector through better and improve funding as well as to better reorientate the educational system in the country to correct and reverse the present disquietedness and disorientation in the country. The country needs to reduce the level of corruption that is eating deep into the limited resources of the country. Corruption has concentrated the resources of the country in a few hands thereby allowing the majority to wallow in poverty. This leads to the issue of poverty.

One of the things instigating and promoting poverty is unemployment. The country must ensure that her citizens are adequately employed to reduce poverty and well as the lure to elope the country to societies where there are better opportunities. The issue of insecurity and insufficient facilities and services need to be addressed quickly and sincerely if the country is to stop migration of her citizens to other countries.

The country must embark on national reorientation of her people on the need for patriotism to be able to stay back and contribute to her development. If citizens of those countries they are relocating to did not stay and develop their own country, where will they run to? Nigerians must  develop attitude of patriotism and commitment to promote the growth and development of the country by staying back to contribute to its development, anything short of this will make the country to become a nation without future.

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My fear for the future

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