World Tour - Nigeria’s brain drain

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: a World Tour special report.

Nigerians have left their home country for the United States and Europe for decades. In 2018, the Pew Research Center took a poll in Nigeria to find out how many others might leave. Forty-five percent said they expected to within the next five years.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Most of those leaving are highly educated professionals. Doctors and nurses are especially anxious to go. That’s left Africa’s most populous country vulnerable.

Why are so many people searching for new opportunities so far from home? WORLD’s Onize Ohikere talked to one woman to find out.

ONIZE OHIKERE, REPORTER: Mimi Emmanuel had big plans for her future in Nigeria.

EMMANUEL: I was hoping at some point I’d have my own law firm. I had my law degree. I was getting my MBA. The plan was to long-term be in a financial firm where I the legal person but at the same time the labor law aspect of it, still be in that financial environment. So, like law and finance.

After passing the bar exam, she worked at several law firms and a financial firm. But she lacked the connections you need in Nigeria to move up in your career.

EMMANUEL: So, like, I had the work experience. I had the degrees. But it wasn’t still going to make a way for me, basically.

In 2017, she reconnected with an old classmate who had immigrated to Canada.

EMMANUEL: We got talking. I could see the difference in what his life was at the time and what mine was. Even though at the time I would say we had the same type of qualifications. He’s a professional as well in his field and I was, but you could see the clear difference—what he was able to achieve here given the environment and the way it encourages you to thrive. I didn’t have those opportunities.

When Emmanuel learned Canada wanted skilled workers to relocate, she decided to give it a try.

EMMANUEL: For me it was pretty straightforward.

She filled out an application and passed all the tests. Family members helped her raise the money she needed to show she could support herself. Six months later, she got word that she was in.

EMMANUEL: I was too happy. I told my mom. It was nice.

Canada has long served as a haven for Africans fleeing conflict and unrest at home. But Mimi Emmanuel is one of a growing number of young economic migrants willing to travel half way around the world for better opportunities.

In 2019, nearly 13-thousand Nigerians immigrated to Canada.

The process may be straightforward, but the transition is often difficult.

EMMANUEL: The reality dawned on me that my family is not here. I’m just alone here. Initially, I’m like, ooh, I’m happy. Then when I got here, I was like, oh, I hope I didn’t just make a wrong decision. It was difficult for me because I’ve been out of Nigeria to other African countries, but I’ve never been in a place where it didn’t feel like home.

Emmanuel didn’t know anyone in her new home. And she struggled with the realization that she was very different from her new neighbors.

EMMANUEL: I’ve always known I’m dark skinned, but now it’s like, oh, I’m actually different. There was actually an experience I had where a kid yelled, “She’s black!” at me in a store. So that took a toll on me.

Like most young immigrants Emmanuel had to put her professional career on hold to start with low-skilled jobs.

EMMANUEL: The truth is, even though they are minimum-wage jobs, I still make a lot more than I made in Nigeria. A whole lot more. And I’m able to afford my needs. I’m able to get my wants to some extent. So it’s not bad. Because in Nigeria I was barely scraping through. I was just barely making it.

On top of the economic insecurity in Nigeria, Emmanuel also faced daily fears for her safety.

EMMANUEL: Nigeria is really unsafe right now on several levels. Especially in several communities where just your religion makes you a target. Here it’s not the first thing you think about when you meet someone. Nigeria is very, very unsafe. I know many times I used to be scared getting home after work. Every day it was, I just pray I get home safe. And I mean that in the most sincere way.

Many of those same issues are pushing Nigeria’s medical professionals to leave as well. The country only has about 74,000 registered doctors for its 200 million people.

Nigeria’s health minister said the government would work to resolve the physician “brain drain.” But Emmanuel doesn’t expect much to change.

EMMANUEL: I feel like the government really doesn’t care. Even when people are not comfortable with what’s going on. I mean it’s supposed to be the government for the people, but it’s the other way around. The government is just for themselves.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Onize Ohikere in Abuja, Nigeria.

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