The Nigerian media space has been awash with the implications of Japa syndrome on developing nations – from loss of talent and human capital, shortage of skilled workers and difficulty in attracting foreign investment. These and more lead to decline in productivity and hinder Nigeria’s ability to compete in the global economy and improve the lives of citizens.
Like other professions in Nigeria, tertiary institutions have been gravely hit by the ‘Japa syndrome’ as thousands of academics keep leaving the nation in search of better opportunities abroad.
According to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Nigeria had a Diaspora population of 1.7 million as of 2020. Stakeholders in the education sector have also proffered divergent solutions on how best the situation can be remedied.
The development also caught the attention of the Education Minister, Prof. Tahir Mamman, who regretted that when talented academics leave the country, it leaves a vacuum in the knowledge and expertise available to students and researchers, stressing that this negatively affects the quality of education, research and innovation in the universities. The ‘Japa’ menace, he argued, has been underreported in the media.
However, industry experts have put the blame on poor remuneration, inconsistent policies and lack of motivation, among others.
For the Executive Secretary, Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Arc. Sonny Echono, rather than bemoan the situation, “we should make lemonade out of it.”
Speaking while hosting the Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, who was on a working visit to his office in Abuja, the Executive Secretary stated that the situation could be Nigeria’s biggest export.
To Echono, the remittance inflow by Nigerians in the Diaspora would help a great deal in boosting the economy. He said that Nigerians should look at the bright side of exporting ‘intellectual assets’ while reaping the enormous benefits of Diaspora remittances.
According to World Bank data, the Nigerian Diaspora population remitted $65.34 billion in three years to boost economic activities in the country. Specifically, the data showed that in 2018, the Nigerian Diaspora remittance was $24.31 billion; in 2019, it dropped to $23.81 billion; and in 2020, it nosedived to $17.21 billion.
The TETFund Executive Secretary pointed out that remittance inflow made up four per cent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product in 2018, even as he advocated that the rate of production of these local manpower be upscaled.
His words: “I fully support that we shouldn’t worry about people being interested in our lecturers, doctors and professionals. We are in a knowledge economy. Those are the new exports. The raw materials, natural resources that we used to depend on in the past have been devalued. But if we can export intellectual assets, it will serve us a whole lot of good.
“By 2018 for the first time, the amount of money repatriated by Nigerians living abroad exceeded our net earnings from crude oil. That is a huge gold mine of untapped resources. What we need to do is to upscale the rate of production of these manpower. And we will know that it is our major contribution to the global economy.
“Because we have the intellectual asset and we can train them, let them go. When they finish, they will send money home. Some of them will even come back home in fullness of time, bringing in their experience from there.”
The Executive Secretary assured the governor that the intervention agency would give maximum support to the newly established College of Education (Technical) in Bauchi State, assuring that it would be added to the list of beneficiary institutions.
“The new institution that has come on board – the one on education technical – is very important because finding teachers on technical subjects at the basic level has been a challenge. And you will not only be producing for Bauchi alone but indeed, for the entire North-East region.
“So, I will be advising my director to liaise with the Commissioner for Higher Education so that we do the formalities of enlistment and begin to support that,” he said.
Earlier, the visiting governor, Mohammed, said that emphasis should be placed on producing more professionals by over 600 higher institutions in the country rather than lament the impact of ‘Japa syndrome’.
He stated: “We can produce our own human capital needs and export labour. If they want our doctors and teachers abroad, we should be able to know what they require and go by what they want, produce more, be exporting and get repatriation of monies coming back to the country.
“And that is why we are repositioning our schools for nursing, health technology and universities to produce more doctors since we are found to be competent. We should not be crying over spilt milk. The more they need, the more we should produce.”
