From: Maryam Abeeb
The Federal Government said it was open to partnerships particularly with the European Union (EU) and America, in order to protect Nigeria’s educational sector and by extension, the future development of the country currently being threatened by the mass exodus of Nigerians from all sectors including education, in what is commonly referred to as “Japa syndrome.”
The Minister of State for Education, Dr Yusuf Sununu while speaking at the maiden edition of Erasmus+ National Information Day in Abuja, raised concerns that with the massive brain drain being witnessed in virtually all sectors of the nation’s economy, the future may not be good for Nigeria, as those leaving to serve and service the economy of other countries were creating a gap between the nation’s output and input.
He said: “Today a larger chunk of foreigners in America and Europe who are in practice whether in healthcare, information technology, and ideas. Nigeria is currently facing a lot of brain drain from virtually all aspects.
“This is because of the resilience of an average Nigerian scholar in giving service delivery irrespective of the condition. Therefore, Nigeria becomes a melting point for the international community to come in and harness talent and move them to serve their people. It is of concern to us that if we cannot match the output and input definitely, the future may not be good for us.
“It is in that regard that we look at closely and we are ready to partner with the European Union and America to protect Nigeria’s educational sector so that we will be able to continue to produce products that can service Nigeria and also be exported to other countries as part of our global contribution to development.
“Nigeria is ready to collaborate with you. We have already developed a guideline that was voted on and passed yesterday by the Federal Executive Council on the transnational education. It is on this view that I would call on all ambassadors here to get hold of that document, utilize it and see how we can work together to ensure that we continue to produce globally accepted certification that will guarantee us the ability to contribute meaningfully to the development of our country, Nigeria, and also to the other countries that depend on our services through the export of our talent.”
According to Sununu, the Erasmus scholarship scheme was of great importance to African countries including Nigeria, as its multinational exchange dimension of programming was aimed at promoting International collaboration, harnessing International talent, facilitating mobility among borders for the exchange of knowledge and research, and enhancing the employability of candidates in various fields, among other benefits.
EU Deputy Head of Delegation, Head of Politics, Press and Information Section, Zissimos Vergos explained that the Erasmus+ scholarship programme enables awardees to school and work in Europe and then return to their respective countries to impact what they have learnt, however noted a drop in the number of awardees fin 2023.
While disclosing that Nigeria has the highest number of awardees in Africa and the fifth globally given its demographic footprint, he added that the EU was hoping to see Nigeria take the lead globally with the highest number of awardees. To this effect, he advised interested Nigerians to pay particular attention to the quality of the preparation of their applications.
