Exodus of skilled youths abroad worries Fed Govt

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is disturbed by the exodus of skilled youths from Nigeria in search of greener pastures abroad.

The President is also concerned that many of these migrants are educationally-equipped youths on whom national resources have been expended.

He restated his administration’s commitment to reverse the trend with the creation of job opportunities for the teeming youths.

The President spoke through Humanitarian Affairs/Poverty Alleviation Minister Dr. Betta Edu at the annual National Dialogue on Migration (NDM) organised by the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI) to mark this year’s International Migrants’ Day in Abuja.

The theme is “Leveraging youth migration for national development”.

Tinubu said: “Statistics on the global migrant population is not cheering; as current

estimates indicate over one billion persons are classified today as international (28 million) and internal migrants (740 million) by the International Office for Migration.

“The numbers for Nigeria is not pleasant either, as millions of our country men and women and other ECOWAS citizens within Nigeria are classified as migrants in various categories such as: Internally Displaced Persons, Refugees and Returnees. Obviously the mandate of the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and IDPs is by no means enviable.

“In particular the recent upsurge of youth migration to locations outside Nigeria is surely a matter for concern, particularly given the fact that majority of the affected youths are skilled individuals on whom national resources have been expended.”

Going by the claim of British Deputy High Commissioner in Lagos, Jonny Baxter the United Kingdom (UK) issued 132,000 visas to Nigerians in the first half of this year.

On weekly basis, hundreds of Nigerians, including women and children, are being deported on the intervention of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) from Libya. 

Thousands of others throng the embassies of the United States (US), Canada, France embassies for visas to relocate from Nigeria.

But Tinubu assured that his administration’s social and economic policies and programmes are targeted at improving the general welfare of Nigerians, reducing the incidence of extreme poverty and producing jobs for young graduates.

He said: “Let me assure you all that my government’s social and economic policies and programmes, and similar efforts by the states, are targeted at improving the general welfare of Nigerians, reducing the incidents of extreme poverty and producing jobs for our young graduates.

“I will implore our graduates to take advantage of government programmes—and there are several of them to promote small and medium enterprises, including on-going programmes in the states, focusing on this category of job-creating ventures.

“The ultimate outcome of these and other well-meaning policies and programmes of government is the creating of a prosperous country of which a successful middle-class citizens would have no reason to migrate to other lands.

“I call on all Nigerians to collaborate with Government to achieve that caring and successful economy.”

NCFRMI Federal Commissioner Aliyu Ahmed said the commission has assisted 4,500 voluntary and forced returned migrants from various countries, including Libya, Niger Republic, Mali, Lebanon, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Morocco, among others.

He said: “This week alone, the Commission coordinated the reception of 256 Nigerian migrants from Libya and Niger, with the support of the IOM and other national and sub- national migration stakeholders. These migrants are currently being integrated into various reintegration programmes of the government, civil society organizations and our international partners, with over 4,000 of them, having already received some form of reintegration assistance as we speak.”

He said there was a need for Nigeria to identify solutions that will present a win-win scenario for Nigeria, the young migrants and the destination countries.

“In June 2023, it was reported that Nigeria lost 6,221 medical professionals to the United Kingdom, and 1,197 between May and December 1st 2023; to this end, we must, as a matter of urgency identify solutions that will present a win-win scenario for Nigeria, our young migrants and the destination countries,” he added.

 Edu said there was the need to find solution to Nigerian youths leaving the country in drove.

She said: “The prevalent use of irregular migration routes compounds vulnerabilities, thus, addressing this challenge necessitates the exploration of alternative strategies to diminish such vulnerabilities, as well as concurrently fostering sustainable economic development. In the same vein, by strategically harnessing the potential of youth migration, Nigeria will not only diversify its economy, but also contribute to a more balanced and resilient trajectory of growth.

“This dialogue, must therefore contribute towards setting the agenda for Nigeria’s bilateral labour agreements with destination countries, to ensure that the rights of our migrants are protected and there are clear pathways for integration, in line with objective 16 of the GCM.

“This objective seeks to empower migrants to realize full inclusion and social cohesion within destination countries. We must also explore unique migratory expressions, such as brain circulation, knowledge transfer and circular migration.”