How to tackle brain drain in education sector, by don

To combat the brain drain in Nigeria’s education sector, Rector of Delta State Polytechnic, Otefe-Oghara, Prof Emmanuel Ufuophu-Biri, has canvassed competitive incentives to retain local lecturers.

According to the Professor of Mass Communication and Journalism, offering attractive packages to lecturers and increased funding of the sector would not only encourage Nigerian lecturers to stay back but also reduce emigration.

In an interview with The Guardian, the scholar identified poor funding and remunerations as some of the factors encouraging brain drain in the sector. While acknowledging that menace is a universal trend, Ufuophu-Biri emphasised that it becomes a concern when a country’s most skilled individuals are enticed to leave for better prospects elsewhere.

He said: “When you leave your village to your state capital, you are looking for greener pastures. When you leave your state for Abuja, you are looking for greener pastures.

“Japa is a global thing. But it becomes dangerous when your best hands begin to go because you cannot satisfy them.”

When there were so many white people teaching in our primary, secondary and universities, were Nigerian lecturers running away the way they are running right now? In 2009 to 2010 when the Nigerian professor’s salary was about $3,500 to $4,000, was he running away? So, if he has an offer of times five of his salary outside this country, will you blame him for going?

“If you go to South Africa right now, you will see a lot of deans and heads of departments are Nigerians and Zimbabweans. So, this issue of Japa doesn’t come to play. If your country offers what is good, it will attract others to you. We have the oil sector here. You have the white guys coming because they earn so much from it. If you make the education, and medical sectors attractive, they will also come. It’s a force of gravity. When people get a better offer, they go there. So many Nigerian lecturers are getting better offers hence they are going there. If you feel it is bad, give a good offer and let others also come to you. We have the very best of brains in Nigeria. But for me, nobody’s navel is tied to a particular country. You go to where you think is best for you.”

While inaugurating the governing councils of federal tertiary institutions last month, Minister of Education, Prof Tahir Mamman, had said the sector, not the medical profession, had suffered the most from brain drain in the country.