The Presidency curiously revealed over the weekend that it is not worried about the brain drain of skilled Nigerian workers, stating that for every Nigerian that wants to leave, hundreds want to stay.
The startling revelation was made by Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President on media and publicity in an interview with Channels TV on Sunday evening.
This comes as the Nigerian Medical Association and the Health Ministry have warned about the rising rate of Nigerian health workers leaving, which is causing a strain on Nigeria’s healthcare value chain.
Adesina while addressing the “ japa” trend, noted that despite data of more skilled Nigerian professionals leaving for the UK for the first time in ten years, said that this is not the first time Nigerians have left.
He said “not just now the average Nigerian has always wanted to leave, and it’s not just in Nigeria, they always believe the grass is greener.
” The truth is that, if you have an opportunity to better your life, there is nothing wrong with it,
But you can’t now say because people are leaving there is a sign something is fundamentally wrong”.
He added that ” there are Nigerians who would never leave” citing that for every person that leaves, there are hundreds that want to stay”.
On the Buhari administration’s scorecard, he said he believes Buhari has fulfilled his promises to Nigerians as there is no single President that can solve all the problems of a country.
On security he noted that Nigeria is safer than when Muhammadu Buhari met it, stating that when Buhari came, nobody was sure Nigeria would be in existence after one month.
” He came and took the battle to the insurgents, then it became hydra-headed through banditry, how many challenges can one administration confront?” he retorted.
