Varsity don urges FG to address brain drain with new policies

Professor of Religious Studies, Prof. Abdulrazak Kilani, has advised the Federal Government to work out modalities on a Memorandum of Understanding with other countries to reduce the exodus of Nigerians seeking greener pastures and stop brain drain in the country.

Kilani stated this at the UNILORIN Alumni Conference held in Abeokuta, the state capital, yesterday, while speaking against the backdrop of continued brain drain, popularly called the Japa syndrome.

Prof. Kilani stated that the formulation and signing of the MoU would bring financial gain for Nigeria, citing Saudi Arabia and the Emirates as examples.

He maintained that the Japa syndrome is not a bad idea, but the government lacks the idea of making money through it, noting that with the current movement of Nigerian doctors or nurses travelling to another country without giving back to the country, it would be a disservice to Nigeria.

“Traveling is not a bad idea; you can travel to improve your welfare, for education, or to learn a new culture and civilization. But what is going to happen to us as Nigerians is the fact that even those who are doing Japa, Nigeria is not even expecting that, medical doctors, nurses,” he said.

“Nigeria should sign an MoU with other countries so that, as a medical doctor, some amount of money must come to Nigeria. If you go to Saudi Arabia, in the Middle East, you see Bangladeshis, Pakistanis, and Filipinos doing some menial jobs. They are not going there alone; they sign an MoU with their government.

“If you go to Saudi Arabia, in the Middle East, you see Bangladeshis, Pakistanis, and Filipinos doing some menial jobs. They are not going there alone; they sign an MoU with their government when going to the country. They are coming on their own, and there is an MoU with their government. In the same regard, they don’t stay there indefinitely.

“To be a medical doctor in Nigeria costs a lot of money—from buying the books, and after books, to NYSC service. They will just leave the country, and nothing is coming back. That is a disservice to us in Nigeria. So, the MoU needs to be signed by the Nigerian government so that you don’t just move out like that, going for four or five years and returning to give back to the country that made you.”

Speaking on the arbitrary awarding of first-class degrees by private institutions to students, he pointed out that there is an urgent need to address the anomaly, noting that there are many factors responsible for first-class degrees today, such as IT, the internet, and access to information.

He said, “Knowledge today is disseminated interactively. Digital boards are being produced in most universities. In our day, it was a chalkboard, not even a pen board.

“I am also aware that many of the universities that are dishing out these first-class degrees are running businesses. And one of the tools they are ready to use is to get people to their schools. If you go to public universities, you don’t see such first-class degrees as you see in private universities today.

“That is the area of quality control and quality assurance that the NUC should step in. I am not saying they are not teaching them, I am not saying their students are not good, but something can be done to reduce the number. When you have about 500 first-class degrees, I graduated from the University of Ilorin in 1982/86, and I don’t think we had up to three first-class degrees.”