Brain Drain

admin · Brain Drain

Brain Drain

Some people fail to realize that perpetual contributions to the improvement of another country at the expense of theirs is the main contributing factor as to why they continue to find their own country undesirable.

The active participation in brain-drain of other countries has been going on for ages, it's just now that it's becoming more apparent. When countries actively contribute to the demise of other nations, especially those they consider less superior, and then appear as saints to help the exodus of the best of their crop to so-called better pastures, one should be wise enough to realize that self-interest and self-gain is the only motivating factor.

You may be quite surprised to find out the percentage of Nigerian professionals that are abroad in various countries and even in remote towns on this planet. I believe the Naija internet whiz revealed some known statistics in his publicly published interview, or you can research and get them elsewhere.

Regardless of the personal reasons why each has chosen to migrate, remain (temporarily or permanently), or was posted abroad, the truth remains, a lot of us professionals are indeed abroad. I for one I'm working on my return, but that's my personal decision (which I may or may not choose to discuss publicly).

The current Nigerian population demographics will best reveal the age range which is highest in percentage, but considering the fact that a lot of baby boomers had the opportunity to get educated in mass proportions during the 70s and 80s, a lot also have by now either not returned home from the higher education sojourn, some who went back home have returned, while others have left once the opportunities arose to woo and/or better accommodate them in the Diaspora.

Someone asked the question "how much development have the professionals already in Nigeria been able to contribute to turn Nigeria around?"
I believe that question can be better answered by first asking "how much opportunities have Nigerian professionals at home been given to contribute positively to the betterment of Nigeria?" and the answers to this question can give us a better perspective as to how the former question can be answered.

We always hear most of our youth complaining that 'some' of the older generation who have institutionalized their careers and positions in the Nigerian government are a major part of the problem, and I concur with that opinion. Nepotism, which allows businesses to retain unprofessional workers (that may be family members, children of known personalities, siblings of potential contractors, etc.) instead of qualified professionals also contribute greatly not only to the unemployment of professionals at the expense of some redundant relatives, but to the lack of influx of fresh and new ideas that could help rebuild the country.

Some youth who feel cheated of their perceived share of Nigeria's wealth and couldn't care less about their neighbours let alone their country, but seek self-gain and money at all cost, above the success of their companies and the country are also some of those who slowly erode the moral, devotion and contributions of their peers and other well-meaning citizens.

Inadequate salaries and unattractive incentives in work places have also caused a lot of people to start their own businesses in fields that have no relation to their professional skills and hence another type of brain-drain within Nigeria itself.

In the Diaspora itself, how many of us that could be professionals in our fields are working in non-related fields and jobs, that do nothing more contribute to bringing home a salary and ends up being a waste of expensive years of education, since there is no joy or continuation in the careers we initially got educated for? We've all heard of Nigerian doctors, lawyers, Phds, MBAs, engineers, accountants, nurses, pilots, IT professionals, etc., doing menial jobs in the Diaspora because of the inability to gain access into their professional fields, due to having to become recertified, high unemployment, discrimination, or even personal incapabilities. It's sad to hear of stories of doctors mopping at Heathrow airport, working in the metro system, or engineers working as nurses aides, accountants working as hotel maids, etc., in the Diaspora for whatever reasons.

Yes, it is good to plan for a new surge of professionals, but what about all the Nigerian professionals that already exist in and out of Nigeria? How can we become a reality in the betterment of Nigeria?

The government and some private companies are already trying to woo back Nigeria professionals above by offering incentive packages that are attractive and adequate to sustain professionals in Nigeria (subject to Nigeria's standard of living, because we all have to be realistic).

I personally know and have heard of quite a number of people who have or are in a process of moving back. Creation of new and more professional jobs by the Govt., Oil companies, IT companies, Banks, Communication organizations (such as MTN), and other industries and corporations such as the media and arts, as well as the computerization of Govt. and private businesses are increasing the call to jobs within the country.

We can only thank God that slowly being eradicated are the days when there was high 'colo' mentality and some people thought Caucasians or foreigners are the only ones that qualify as experts in their fields, opening doors for 'some' unqualified foreigners to receive benefits and statuses which were undeserved but betrothed just by virtue of their skin colour.

(All we need now is NEPA to provide steady supply of electricity so all our Doctors don't continue to flee to Saudi Arabia, Russia and the U.S. and so that our remaining private and manufacturing industries don't continue to die off )

NEPA so far has been a major contributing factor to the illness of Nigeria, as it has contributed to the close down of many industries, incapability to run health and other facilities and organizations that highly depend on the constant availability of electricity, as well as increase in crime, and exit of those who have previously resided and gotten used to being in NEPA free environments; but NEPA or no NEPA with appropriate incentives some fields can succeed and do indeed succeed using alternatives that allow them to survive and provide jobs to those willing to accept them.

NEPA may have contributed to turning us into a consumer nation, but with our individual and collective will, faith, effective planning, love and genuine concern for our nation and God's grace we can return to and increase our ability in becoming a producing nation.

In my personal opinion, Brain-drain is a problem contributed to by both the nations that failed their citizens as well as the countries that continuously seek to and thus offer incentives to woo away the best brains of the former countries for their own self-gain.

Brain-drain has already been a long occurring problem, and the solutions can only be actualized by our individual choices and acts of patriotism, based of course on factors which each and everyone of us deem as a priority in light of the BIG PICTURE, which is the future of our country.

I too have some friends who would under no circumstances move out of Nigeria to stress it out in the Diaspora and they motivate me to return and be a contributing factor, and I hope to actualize that decision before I become one of the statistics who stayed too long, have no home to return too and may end up spending the last years of their lives in nursing homes because their children have become so Americanized and can't relate to the African culture.

Cxsm
10th Mar. '04

© Cxsm 2004 All Rights Reserved

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Africa: Brain Drain Costs Continent $ Billion Annually ? UNDP

United Nations Development Programme has said brain drain has cost the African 300,000 professionals reside outside Africa. Ethiopia lost 75 percent of its skilled workforce between 1980 and 1991. This large exodus of qualified Africans is a huge burden on the African economy.

African institutions are increasingly dependent on foreign expertise.

Read the story: www.afamreport.com

(Click on AfricaNews' at the top, scroll to Brain Drain)

admin · "Second Slavery" Snares Britain's African Migrants

"Second Slavery" Snares Britain's African Migrants

Gideon Long
London
24th Apr. 2006

Yinusa Gbadamasi has a degree in sociology, a post-graduate qualification in education management and is working on a PhD. But his achievements count for little in his current job: parking attendant, central London.

Gbadamasi, from Nigeria, is one of thousands of Africans who have come to Britain legally in search of skilled jobs but have become victims of "occupational downgrading". Unable to find work in their fields of expertise, they reluctantly take up the unskilled jobs that many Britons are no longer prepared to do.

Anyone living and working in London cannot help but be struck by the number of immigrants working in the city as street vendors, taxi drivers, private security guards, road cleaners and community carers. They often work long hours and night shifts, forming a kind of twilight underclass, and while many are unskilled and unqualified, some are highly educated.

Not only are they failing to put their own talents to use, but their absence from their home countries is contributing to the "brain drain" which economists say is shackling Africa's development. "Everybody loses from this," Gbadamasi told Reuters after a long day walking London's streets handing out parking tickets. "We lose out because we are not fulfilling our potential, our host countries lose out because we are not contributing much to society and Africa loses out too.

"Many Africans here see this as a kind of second slavery," he said. "There are no shackles this time, no chains, but it is a slavery nevertheless."

Carers with Phds

The extent of the problem is hard to judge -- research is sparse and official figures do not usually indicate what level of skills new arrivals have. But evidence suggests occupational downgrading is widespread among Britain's large African diaspora.

"There are certainly people with PhDs in this country working as carers," said Dr Alice Bloch, from the Department of Sociology at London's City University, who has published a study on Zimbabwean migrants to Britain and South Africa. Her research found that 97 percent of Zimbabweans who came to live and work in Britain had some sort of formal academic qualification. Of those, 43 percent had a degree or a post-graduate qualification. "They were very highly qualified," Bloch said. "Much more qualified, in fact, than the British population as a whole."

One of the problems these migrants faced was that their qualifications, gained in colleges and universities across Africa, carried less weight in Europe than at home. "You might have a doctor from Somalia, for example, who arrives with good qualifications, but those qualifications are not recognised in Britain and they have to retrain," Bloch said. "That's a big barrier to people getting jobs commensurate with their skills."

Faced with the prospect of a long and possibly expensive retraining course, or a lengthy search for a skilled job, some migrants are tempted by the 'quick fix' of an unskilled job with instant rewards. "A lot of migrants think 'I'm not going to be here for too long, I'll just work as a carer, make some money and send it back home'," Bloch said. "That was one of the trends we saw in our research."

Threat From the East

Gbadamasi says he thinks life has got tougher for African migrants since 2004, when European Union enlargement opened the British labour market to a new generation of workers from the accession countries of Eastern Europe. "They get the jobs that used to go to Africans," he said.

When asked why he thought this was, the 44-year-old smiled wistfully and pointed to his own black skin. "Some prejudices still remain," he said.

Of course, not all African migrants struggle to find appropriate work in Britain. Bloch found that out of the 500 Zimbabwean migrants to Britain that she studied, the nine who were qualified as doctors all found employment in the staff-starved health-care system.

Teachers, however, found it much more difficult to find jobs in Britain's schools, and many drifted into the residential care profession, looking after the old and the sick.
Indeed, there are so many Africans working in Britain's residential homes that they are sometimes referred to as "BBCs" -- British bottom cleaners.

Faced with such frustrations, many Africans, including Gbadamasi, opt to return home. The married father-of-three says he wants to go back to Nigeria within the next 12 months.

Asked what his message would be to other Africans thinking of following in his troubled footsteps to Europe to seek a better life, the graduate-turned-parking-attendant was adamant. "They should never dream of coming. No matter how hard it is in Nigeria, your home is your home," he said.

"I want to go home, tell the people there what I have seen and tell them this: Do not waste your time and your life by dreaming of coming to Europe."

admin · Job Fair Holds in New York

Job Fair Holds in New York

This Day
27th Jan. 2008

Against the backdrop of the brain drain in the various sectors of the economy, the Morningside Company of New York has concluded plans to organise a series of job fairs in America and Europe over the next year. The aim of these fairs, according to its spokesman, Mr. Chibututu, will be to provide a platform to strengthen awareness, and provide practical services to Nigerian based employers and diaspora job seekers; for recruiters, entrepreneurs, job seekers and educational institutions with networking opportunities in face to face settings.

He stated that the first fair would be held on March 22, at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers, New York, United States of America (USA).

While underscoring the importance of the fair, Chibututu said "we have a serious shortage of skilled person power in virtually all key areas set for the Millenium Development Goals. We need nurses and medical doctors to extend access to health services for the poor; well-trained educators to ensure that primary education targets are met; agricultural extension officers and scientists to address hunger and food insecurity".

According to him, itechnicians and engineers are vital to energy, water and sanitation, transport and Information Communication Technology. Skilled person power is also required to meet the needs of the private sector, and entrepreneurs are required to ensure job creation. In fact, we need all the skilled person power we have to achieve the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs)".

It would be recalled that in the case of Nigeria, millions of Nigerians have migrated to western countries in recent decades for better job opportunities, more money and higher living standards. These are people who have been trained and worked in their fields. For example, migration organisations estimate that there are 26,000 Nigerian doctors working in the United States.

However, one of the main challenges facing African nations today is the need to rebuild human capital. Shortage of skills has been a critical constraint on investment, job creation and improved public services. As a direct consequence of this skill loss, it has been estimated that the continent spends over $4bn in technical assistance each year in sectors such as health, education and the environment, as well as public management.

The numerous current initiatives in Africa require high-level scientific technological and managerial skills. The question is where are the skills going to come from. One answer is that from Africans in the Diaspora and the rest of the world.

According to the United Nations, approximately 40 percent of all African professionals have left the continent's shores over the decades since decolonisation. This means that upwards of five million doctors, teachers, engineers, technicians and mangers are living and working elsewhere. African immigrants to the United States, for example, boast some of the highest educational attainments of any immigrant group, and there are more than 250,000 scientists and physicians of African descent in the United States. This shortage of skilled and experienced workers is retarding development, holding back investment, job creation and improved services for Africa.

Copyright © 2008 This Day

Brain Drain

Africa: Brain Drain Costs Continent $ Billion Annually ?UNDP

"Second Slavery" Snares Britain's African Migrants

Job Fair Holds in New York