MASS EMIGRATION AMIDST LOST HOPE; “Japa” pandemic is upon us but hope is not at bay.

There is a serious pandemic ravishing our beloved land, the “Japa” pandemic. We all fold our arms unlooking as the country experiences a large harvest of our best brains and the educated by the western countries.

Over 9000 Nigerian trained doctors moved to the UK, US and Canada in the last 2 years while over 15000 Nigerian trained nurses moved abroad in the last 4 years as well. The numbers are increasing. To give a point of view on how much of a problem the emigration of over 15000 nurses from Nigeria is, all the schools of nursing in Nigeria do not produce upto 15000 nurses per year.

Most of these schools are highly subsidised and almost free, which means Nigeria is expending resources training medical practitioners for other countries. This should have any government declare a state of emergency on the health sector but of course we won’t be at this point if we had right thinking leadership. This mass emigration will not only create shortage of health workers but we are also losing finances with the new trend as most of the educational institutions across Nigeria are highly subsidised and almost free.

This mass emigration of young Nigerians is not just in the health sector, it is happening all across. From the banking sector to corporate sector to education sector to telecommunications to oil and gas sectors, Nigerians are leaving en masse.

Everyone feels comfortable with this trend because we do not feel its negative effects on us right now. We might not know or feel deeply its effects on us now but in a couple of years from now, there will be a serious dearth of talents and professionals to help in the development of certain critical sectors in the country.

Many Nigerians especially the “Japa” enthusiasts give and create different excuses to justify this new trend. Excuses of how terrible certain sectors of the country are, some of which are amplified beyond how terrible they are. We are not the only nation with challenges.

We should be reminded that most of these “japa” enthusiasts who will at every instance talk down, curse and tear down the country are big beneficiaries of the low cost of education in the country. They will participate in the fighting and shutting down of schools over little increment in education fees but will readily take loans in millions to go and get eduction in western countries. Some even take loans from our banks and run off leaving such loans to go bad.

Do not get me wrong, I am a big proponent of free education. With our level of resources as a nation, from human resources which ought to be a major leverage to natural and mineral resources, our government should be able to take care of Nigerian citizens. If our resources are properly harnessed and managed, we will not be having challenges providing government aid in very critical sectors like education, housing and health that are important to ensure the dignity of every Nigerian citizen. Every Nigerian should be enjoying largely, the dividends of democracy.

For me, everything about Nigeria excites me. I have always been about a better Nigeria. I have always wanted the type of country that I’d be totally proud to call mine. The first time I was out of the country, the United Kingdom precisely, I never saw a big deal with their level of infrastructural development. They didn’t seem like a big deal because I knew that we could also achieve that level of infrastructural development as a country.

So again, as I watched the Nigerian army paratroopers conduct their trainings some days ago in Abuja and with the sight of the military planes from which they were airdropped, I was elated to say the least. It gave the feeling from watching those Hollywood military movies that makes you wonder when your country will attain such level of military operations.

I was still in my state of elation when I started seeing videos on the Internet of Nigerians making a mockery of the exercise. It was irritating to see as I asked where our sense of patriotism is. Have we lost hope totally that we make a mockery of everything that is our own and look down on ourselves so much that we fail to appreciate anything or any effort made to improve the image of the country.

To be honest, It was not a totally smooth exercise as I’d like to assume that the soldiers targeted landing in Eagle square but some of the soldiers landed on trees and vehicles. It was not totally smooth but I believe it was largely successful. There was no loss of life. Kudos to the brave airborne officers!

Even in developed nations, military exercises like this fail but you will see their citizens cheering on and clapping in appreciation of the efforts.

Military paratrooping or jumping out of an aircraft is hard and very dangerous anywhere in the world. It is one of the hardest military exercises. Officers could lose lives. In the US Army, just last year (2021), a death of a paratrooper was recorded during training. Between 2010 and 2015, 13 deaths were recorded during airdrop and paratrooping trainings.

The parachutes used by the military during airdrops are very different from the recreational types and military parachutes don’t sail easy. They have large holes in them which makes them come down at a very high speed and does not allow a soft landing. This was designed to avoid enemy attacks as it will be easier to shoot them down if they launched into battle zones at slow recreational type speed or sail.

So if even the almighty US army could have a report that identifies paratrooping as one of its leading cause of injuries despite their high level of training, why are we so quick to make a mockery of our own efforts. We need to do better in appreciation of our own.

What many people do not realise is that theoretically, Nigeria is one of the best countries in the world. Some few years ago, there was a national emergency summit held in Singapore. In attendance were many other countries who showcased their national emergency strategies. Nigeria’s emergency response strategy was the best amongst all the countries that were present and even the Singaporian government had to understudy our emergency response strategy. Our great emergency response strategy could be seen from the government’s response to diseases outbreaks from the Ebola virus to covid 19.

Several years ago I used to think Nigeria needed to be rebuilt from ground up but I came to the realisation that Nigeria, has properly prepared solution manuals across board but what we lack is the right leadership with the will for implementation of these solution manuals

Nigeria keeps making me proud. Our entertainment industry to music to movie industries are doing very well and are a source of pride. Nigerians are excelling in various industries abroad and we have Nigerians dominating many education institutions abroad as well.

In the music industry, Nigeria could be said to be the biggest thing around the world right now. Just few days ago, I watched with a lit face how Jarule, an American and international music artist sang word for word one of the songs of a Nigerian artist.

Music has been one of our big exports in the past couple of years. Our Nigerian artistes have done so much work in building themselves with absolutely no support from the government. The only support I could say was from the government is in the government’s non interference in the music trade

I see the Nigerian movie industry being at par with Hollywood movie industry sooner than we all think. Maybe the movie industry would have been at that point already but we all know the movie business and movie production to Hollywood standards require very big budgets. Budgets running into several millions of dollars most times.

We have come a long way as a country. I’d just hope that the youths of the country could be more assertive in building the nation.

I would honestly not put a blame on the ones that chose to abandon the country to its issues and things eating it deep in the search of greener pastures, but I wish we could become stronger believers of how great our system and society could get.

I am a strong believer of the Nigeria vision and it is my hope that as we all work hard for intrapersonal development and growth, we should also put the development of our country in our hearts.

I have had my fair share of what bad Nigeria could do to you. In the true sense of it, most of our challenges are not peculiar. Bad and terrible things happen all over the world and we shouldn’t think we are the only nation with all the wrongs in the world.  I have had my fair share of what bad Nigeria could do to you including losing a loved one to the terrible health care sector even though he himself was a very accomplished medical practitioner.

Also as a result of the bad system, just some days ago I was coming back to Abuja from Lagos. A flight that was suppose to depart at 6:50am didn’t depart until 3pm which made me miss a very important business meeting. I have lost businesses by just living in Nigeria and being Nigerian.

Am I angry you may ask, yes I am angry at the failed systems due to bad leadership but I will not beat a dying horse, especially one that means a lot to me and has in some ways given me some value, I’d rather get it the urgent medical care it so much deserves.

I couldn’t be more grateful for being part of such a country with vast and diverse resources, the humans included. Nigeria makes me proud and I’d only hope for a better Nigeria because I strongly believe that hope for a better Nigeria is not at bay.

Happy independence day to Nigeria. May Nigeria be great again.