Opinion
As The Jakpa Train Moves
Since time immemorial. Nigerians have been relocating to other countries, either in search of greener pastures or for other reasons. It is within anybody’s right to live in whatever part of the world he chooses to. However, it becomes worrisome when lots of the good brains, skilled professionals, creative individuals and entrepreneurs that should be looked up to better the fortunes of the nation are daily jostling to jet out of the country thereby using their brains and talents to develop other countries because the environment in their fatherland is very toxic.
During my just concluded vacation, I visited my former compound here in Port Harcourt, and was shocked to find out that three out of the five families that lived in that compound, have left the country. Two of them were gurus in the banking industry. The wife of the third person was a staff of an oil company. When contacted she told me they had to leave in order to secure the future of their children because the future of the younger generation, going by the current happenings in the country, is very bleak. The brain drains in the health sector is no longer news. Statistics abound on the high number of doctors, nurses and other health professionals that migrate to U.S, Canada, the UK, the United Arab Emirates and many other countries across the globe. As far back as 2018, the then Chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Abuja Branch, Ekpe Phillips, during the annual health week of the Association of Resident Doctors, lamented that “This exodus is continuously increasing. We produce 1600 doctors every year and 1200 are leaving the country.” He continued that, “with the number of doctors getting old and retiring, you see there is no replacement which is a big problem that might lead to collapse of the Nigerian health sector, if not tackled.”
Four years down the road, the story has not changed. The situation keeps getting worse with no seeming tangible effort by the authorities to address the problem. They do not consider brain drain as a big issue and that explains why the Minister of Labour, Dr Chris Ngige, has maintained that Nigeria has surplus doctors despite statistics saying otherwise. Record shows that since the current government of President Muhammadu Buhari, no fewer than 6,068 medical doctors have moved to the United Kingdom. Add to the number of doctors that moved to other countries and you will understand the magnitude of the problem. Even consultants are not left out. The president of the Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria, (MDCAN), Victor Makanjuola, told news men recently in Abuja that more than 100 of its members left the country in the past one year. How can the situation continue like this and we expect the country to develop? Nigeria spends taxpayers’ money to train doctors only to allow other countries to reap out of it. It is a known fact that the cost of training a doctor in Nigeria is far lower than what obtains in other countries because it is highly subsidised by both the federal and state government. Yet we allow other countries to grab them and we in turn pay heavily to go see them in these countries? A few days ago, the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Ayuba Waba, narrated how he went to see a recommended specialist in Philadelphia, America, and to his greatest amazement, the highly sought medical expert was a Nigerian who probably had migrated to America due to poor working condition, insecurity and other challenges in his fatherland. Such a painful reality.
Please, what are we doing in this country? Are we thinking at all? Are our leaders asleep? For how long shall those in authority whose duty it is to use the resources of the country to develop the country and make life better for the citizens continue to prioritise their selfish interests above that of the nation and the citizens? Indeed, a country that pays little or no attention to the wellbeing of its citizens, where the commonwealth of the nation is squandered by a privileged few while a large percentage of the citizens die in penury will continue to experience the mass exodus of the people to other countries. A nation that cannot guarantee the safety of her citizens, where the public universities have been shut for over seven months, the lecturers not paid and the future of the students is jeopardised because of government’s lack of interest in funding education in the country, cannot expect the people not to jakpa at any given opportunity. We read last week about a frustrated lecturer at the University of Maiduguri, Dr Othman Abubakar, who allegedly put his library for sale because education is now in shambles in Nigeria. Out of frustration, academics are leaving the country in droves. ASUU President, Professor Victor Osodeke, recently told news men that many lecturers have moved out of the country to pursue their career abroad, not because they hate this country but because of the way they are being treated. Yet, the powers that be are not ruffled. Rather, they continue to maintain their hard stance as far as the issue of ASUU is concerned and keep using every means to cajole the lecturers to go back to the classrooms. You can imagine using the National Universities Commission (NUC), to order Vice-Chancellors to re-open universities and to allow students resume lectures, without first addressing the grievances of the striking lecturers. As far as the government is concerned, the state of mind of these lecturers and how that will affect the students, who the government claims to protect, does not matter.
It is therefore imperative that the government should step up actions aimed at dissuading the citizens from leaving the country in droves. Let the leaders across the three tiers of government play down on amassing public funds for themselves and generations yet unborn and rather use these monies to rebuild the various sectors of our economy so that Nigeria will be a better place to live in. Other countries like India once faced a similar issue of brain drain but were able to conquer it by putting the nation and the people first. The Indian government offered an interest free loan to all medical professors in the diaspora to establish medical facilities in India. Incentives and a conducive working environment were also provided by the government. Today, India is a force to reckon with in the field of medicine. Who says Nigeria cannot do better if corruption, embezzlement of public funds, crude oil theft are dealt with sincerely? Who says Nigeria, despite the global economic crisis, cannot be better if our leaders can reduce the cost of governance, deny themselves some unnecessary luxuries for the sake of a better future for the nation? Who says Nigeria will not be better if the issues of insecurity, poor government policies, poor power supply which are driving investors away from Nigeria are sincerely addressed.?
By: Calista Ezeaku
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