Stakeholders brainstorm as human capital flight takes toll on economy
Stakeholders across sectors have expressed concern over mass emigration of Nigerian professionals for ‘greener pasture’ in Europe and other developed nations.
At a one-day symposium on brain drain and its implications organised by the Developer Research Projects Centre in partnership with National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPPS) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, yesterday, in Abuja, the stakeholders sought solutions to the problem.
They lamented that poor remuneration and harsh economic realities, worsened by the inability of government to provide friendly environment for business and employment opportunities, are some major factors fuelling the exodus.
NIPPS Director General, Prof. Ayo Omotayo, vowed that his organisation, as foremost think tank of the Federal Government, would not helplessly watch as the nation loses its trained human capital to other nations, hence strategies are being put together to address the development.
He said: “Some of the initial findings show that the health sector in Nigeria among others is facing a financing and human resource gap in the last few years.”
Omotayo described as unfortunate a scenario where the three tiers of government spent a lot of money in training professionals, especially health workers, only to lose them to emigration.
The NIPPS chief executive continued: “We assure that the salient points of the conversation will be distilled and packed in a policy brief which will be sent to the relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) for attention. We hope that the major political parties and their presidential candidates will follow this conversation and include this as part of their campaign issues.
“This (emigration) has partly ignited the continuous migration of Nigerian health workers abroad in search of better work. It is a source of concern because this is leading to a reduction in the number of health workers in the country.”
Calling on Nigerian emigrants and those intending to emigrate to come together to find lasting solutions to the present human capital loss, former Vice Chancellor of Redeemer’s University, Prof. Oyewale Tomori, in a goodwill message, said despite the challenges, Nigerians must rally together to rescue the nation from its current quagmire.
