Wednesday, February 27, 2008

"Working in Africa"

A friend commented on the piece I wrote about freewriting (see the post "Getting into the habit of writing" of January 2008), asking for all the pieces I implicitly promised to deliver via this blog from that time onwards. Well, my friends, life has been on fast forward for me in the last few weeks; so fast that I've gone for days on end without even remembering that such a thing as blogging exists. Honestly. My circumstances have changed drastically within the last month – admittedly for the better, but the change process has been harrowing. I know everyone of us can come up with excuses for why we renege on our promises and resolutions, so I don't mean for that to constitute an excuse, really. I am guilty.

Now that I'm more settled, I'll give you the gist of something that's been on my mind for the past few days. About two weeks ago, a colleague who's doing postgraduate research in another university informed me about a seminar that was planned to hold in his school, titled 'Working in Africa'. One to be excited at the mere mention of any development-related activity in Africa, I quickly inquired about how to register. Although the seminar was ideally aimed at the university staff and students, I managed to worm my way in on the grounds of the interest I expressed to the organisers. So it was that I sat in on this meeting to listen to presentations of what would hopefully be stimulating ideas on how to make Africa work.

I guess in my mind I must have read the seminar title backwards, because the seminar turned out to be all about what's in Africa for the university. Four out of five presentations discussed ways to make the university more attractive to prospective students from Africa. So it was not that they were discussing how to make a contribution; they were rather interested in strategising to gain more income and global recognition through increased enrolment of African students. The first speaker went over statistics of African students enrolled currently enrolled on various programmes at the university. Of course several African countries were represented, but I didn't get past the first three before the alarms went off in my brain.

Nigeria was top of the list with 64 students registered in that UK university. The next country to Nigeria was Kenya with 19 students, followed by Ghana with 15 students! The presentations that followed the first one carried on in similar business fashion, the overriding aim being to measure the university's success so far in recruiting bright young talents from Africa, and devise means of perfecting the recruitment strategy so that the university's pockets can get even fatter with international fees. I'll let you on to a little secret, in case you didn't know: international students in the UK pay over 4 times – yes, 4 times – what 'home' students pay. The only reason a UK university will chase a Nigerian student desperately is to collect all that cash. Why, a single Nigerian student is financially worth at least four UK students. See?

Now, there is absolutely nothing wrong with leaving Nigeria to study abroad. The question I've started to ask myself is, why do people really leave? In my opinion, the fact that Nigerians hardly ever return home after studying abroad gives an insight into people's real reasons for leaving in the first place. I've always been aware of this fact, but the huge disparity between Nigerian students and students from other African countries in the example given above has set me thinking again. South Africa, for instance, has only 1 student enrolled at the same university this session. That's a difference of 63 from Nigeria! I know this is only one case, but from what I see and hear around me, it is not likely to be the only case.

I will answer the argument that Nigeria has a higher population than those other countries by saying that migration, especially for educational purposes, is absolute, not relative. There are 140 million people in Nigeria, but I don't know that up to 10 million of those can even dream of showing up at a foreign embassy to apply for student visas. How many of those millions even have proper primary school education? My point: There's nothing to say that the total number of educated 'elites' in Nigeria is 4 times higher (64/15, ratio 4:1) than those in Ghana. Probable, yes; certain, no.

In any case, this is not the time to be making excuses. The point is that we need to wake up. People, Nigeria is NOT the worst country in Africa! So why is it that Nigerians seem to be more desperate to 'check out' of their country than other, poorer, nations? It would be fantastic if all those 64 Nigerian students would return home at the end of their education to contribute to rebuilding the ruins of our nation. That is the only way we as a people can realise net profit from this desperate student–for–money transaction initiated by foreign universities. Otherwise, we will continue to be taken advantage of by people who prey on our weaknesses to make themselves stronger. Talk about 21st century slave trade.

I'm very familiar with the argument often put forth that Nigeria does not have anything worthwhile to offer her returning professionals and intellectuals, so it would be a shameful waste for anyone to go back after studying. What do I have to say to that? Well, that's a story for another day.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

True Talk!So what next? We all have a part to play.The search for `Excellence' drives us to the `white man's land', but may I ask what keeps us back? Fat pay packets,Second class jobs,living under the tireless strain of gaining approval against the contrived diplomacy of Oyinbo...A constant bashing of your self esteem and a gradual weakening of our allegiance to our `papa land!' People... that is called MEDIOCRITY!
Nija will improve only to the extent you and I are willing to courageously give back!
ARISE O' COMPATRIOTS!

temilade said...

True talk, true talk!

Anonymous said...

Just wait for me, I'm coming over in September to chase everyone back home :)

Really, one of the strongest things on my mind as I prepare to finally (hmmm, finally ehn) take up postgraduate studies is the need to build (or rally round) a platform on which young Nigerians can discuss and carve their ways to the post-Obodo Oyinbo days.

I've been on both sides (blessed with frequent trips around the world) for a while and I know for a fact that any young Nigerian who's able to find good stuff to come commit their energies to at home (plus the reward) will plan to return.

Any sane person will prefer to be king of the jungle instead of being a slave in a zoo! The jungle may lack food for a while, so the zoo seems appealing... but when the animals of the kingdom wake up to the responsibility of carving a new jungle for themselves (a new ecosystem that favours them all), the story will change.

The beauty of this is that some animals will return early, or stay in touch with the jungle, so they reap the rewards faster when true development matures. Morale of the story: Africa, and Nigeria, will not change until we are able to convert all the new knowledge we get in these exotic institutions into true development. It's not even a question of how and when anymore, its a question of who...

Gbolade Shoyemi said...

I've got news for everyone and anyone who cares to listen...The next 5-10 years in Nigeria is going to be very critical. New sets of dynasties are emerging and the foundation for building a great nation are being put in place...if you are not in nigeria and haven't been in the last 5 years, the least you can do is to make sure you have someone on ground who gives you first hand information as things evolve...you dont want to be a "visiting" citizen when change finally happens...

and a last one...the truth? I actually would not have minded much if all the nigerians that leave the country dont come back...they really dont have to comeback...but you know the problem i have? well they all leave the country and dont rule the countries they migrate and choose to live in...when you move enmasse to a place, you should be known for something...go over there and takeover the economy or a section of the countries you move to...for instance if i may ask...what are Nigerians known for in the UK? US? China? etc...Are we the one controlling the Real Estate sector of those economies(or running the adminisitration underground sectors of those economies? for crying out loud sometime ago we had Ghanians in Nigeria and they were at least known for producing very good Mathematics Teachers!)...are we known for smart work or dumb old-school hard labour?

Anonymous said...

Hm...what else can I say. My two professors said it all. Many people don't want to go back home 'cos they can't see anything to look forward to. The problem now is even that parents now encourage their children not to come back to the country immediately after the programme.

There is the case of a friend who told his parents that he would be returning to Naija with his family (this was after he had spent about 2 years extra on top his student years o). His father called him and told him that they were really worried back home. They wanted to be sure he was making the right decision.

Many people find themselves in this kind of situation...What do we want them to do? They are not sure of getting job if they return home nor do they have any business they can run to...Anyway, I believe we need to help our fellow countryman. When I tell people that promotion is not from ABROAD, they tell me that it is not my fault and that why won't I say so when I am outside the country schooling...I pray that GOD will open our eyes to see the virtues HE has deposited in us. It is well!