One of the wisest things any human being can do is to run away from a bad situation they do not have any control over.
It is a smart thing to do because unless you are ready to “die there,” it is better to live and fight another day, especially when there are prospects of a better life where you have chosen to run to me.
Anyone who has been paying attention to goings on in the country would have noticed that Nigeria is currently in a season when a lot of people, especially the youth, are looking for ways to run away from the country.
It is the japa (running away) season.
They are tired and even their tired is tired.
Someone recently posted on Facebook that the way things are in Nigeria today, if European slave buyers were to come with ships to capture slaves, people would willingly turn themselves in. One of those who commented said something to the effect that he would board the ship with his own chains, lest they run out of chains to hold him down.
Even though it was hard as a joke, the reactions to that post clearly showed that a lot of people would rather go anywhere than remain here.
It was, therefore, no surprise when I read in the news that hundreds of medical doctors recently attended a recruitment exercise for employment in Saudi Arabia.
It was also no surprise that this was happening at a time when the federal government and the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) are locked in battle over government’s failure to keep to terms of agreements reached with the association on behalf of its members.
There couldn’t have been a better timing for this exercise than now.
The latest strike by the NARD, which the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) has indicated that it would be joining in solidarity, is the fourth by medical doctors in the last two years.
Happening at a time when the country is still battling with containing the COVID-19 pandemic, amidst fears of a third wave, one would have expected the government to move swiftly to address the situation but the government rather talks tough and has adopted all manner of knee jerk approaches to frustrate the striking doctors to make them return to work.
The government instituted a court case over the legality of the strike and then announced a ‘no work, no pay’ policy.
It was also reported that when the government got wind of the Saudi Arabia recruitment exercise, men of the State Security Service were deployed to the venue to disperse the doctors and stop the exercise.
The action of dispersing doctors trying to go out in search of the proverbial greener pastures is the most laughable. It clearly tells you that the government either does not know what is going on in the country or chooses to play the ostrich.
Interactions with young people would show you that at least eight out of every 10 are daily looking for ways to leave the country.
Anyone who has been following online conversations by these young people would see the level of interest any social media topic about relocating from Nigeria piques.
A medical doctor friend of mine got his wife who already had a BSc to study nursing a few years back in preparation for their exit from Nigeria. She completed the course sometime in 2019 and early this year, they relocated from Nigeria with their lone child. And guess where they went to – Saudi Arabia. Yes, the same Saudi Arabia.
All over the world, the medical profession stands out as one of the best remunerated and while artificial intelligence and technology appears to be threatening some professions, the COVID-19 pandemic alone has shown that careers in the medical profession are most sustainable.
It is, therefore, no surprise that many people are ditching their first and even second degrees to get new degrees in the medical field.
Now, if the government decides to disperse physical gatherings for recruitment, what about the ones that go on virtually? How do they intend to stop the millions of people online daily looking for ways to run away?
The fact remains that no matter what the government does to deter people from running away from the many problems of this country, until the issues of welfare and adequate remuneration for workers, for instance, are taken seriously and given priority, those who want to run away will continue to find ways to do so.
How do you for instance rationalise the non-payment of COVID-19 allowances to the NARD as frontline workers during the pandemic or the non-payment of the benefits of the 19 doctors who lost their lives in the frontline while trying to save others?
The government needs to wake up and smell the coffee.
As long as issues that concern the welfare of citizens continue to be treated as afterthought, rather than priority, more people will continue to seek ways out of the contraption that the country has become.
I recently read a BBC report about how Nigerians are amassing degrees in Europe, after completing the courses that took them there, just to remain in those countries as they do not have hopes of getting any jobs should they return home.
The strategy is to keep going to school on student visas and doing small work by the side to sustain them till they’re able to get jobs that guarantee them permanent residency.
According to ICEF Monitor which focuses on international student mobility, in 2020, about 100,000 Nigerians travelled abroad to study. The majority of these would rather remain abroad and take their chances than return home.
The way I see it, you cannot blame them. Many people would do same if they were in their shoes because even if they come back home upon completion of their studies, they will only be coming to join the army of young people scrambling for the few available job opportunities.
The government needs to realise that it would take more than dispersing professionals at recruitment centers to solve the problem at hand.
We are in the japa season and people will continue to seek ways to run as far away as they can from the problems of this country.