Revered poet, Professor Niyi Osundare, has described brain flight as the greatest issue facing the African continent, saying it is more worrisome that leaders were doing nothing to reverse the trend.
Osundare stated this during the Nigeria Academy of Letters (NAL) Dialogue with Niyi Osundare, with the theme: “When in Rome … African Letters and the Diaspora Disconnect,” held via Zoom on Thursday.
He decried that the leaders continued to allow brain drain because they prioritised Diaspora remittances rather than making their continent comfortable and livable.
He said the continent was worse off losing its best brains, retarding the wheels of progress and development as the Western world continued to make exiting the continent for so-called greener pastures more attractive.
Though he cautioned that the grass was not always greener on the other side, Osundare described African countries as misruled, forcing many to leave, never keen to return.
He particularly wondered about the crux of gatherings of the African Union (AU), saying as the trend portends even a more horrible future than it presently is.
Osundare questioned: “Brain flight is the greatest issue of the continent. We are losing brains every hour without the government caring. Are things really rosy for us in the diaspora? Africa continues to lose out in the generation and dissemination of the kind of ideas that propel the wheels of human development. Government pretends as if nothing is happening and is grateful that it is happening due to Diaspora remittances.
“How can a country/continent hope to develop when some of its best brains are being forced into exile? The japa syndrome is one of Africa’s current malignant afflictions. Are African rulers thinking about what to do about it? For goodness sake, what do our rulers talk about when they gather together as the African Union?
“Right now, in many African countries, the past is better than the present. We must all strive to make sure that this horrible present is not better than our future.
“They make brain drain very attractive. How do you make Africa comfortable so that people don’t have to run away? How do you make Nigeria comfortable so that people don’t say they need to move out of this hell? Africa is misruled; Nigeria is misruled.
“We don’t have leaders who really think and think right. I used to know Nigeria, when you finished your programme, the next week, you are home. We need a political solution. Many are forced to leave the country. Make Nigeria livable; make Africa habitable. Nigerians never return. Africans never return. We have to reverse it. Make Nigeria livable.”
Contributing to the discussion, Professor Dan Izevbaye, said the continent was experiencing neo-colonialism as it does not have control of its own continent, rather relying on the direction of the Western world.
Noting that African works were not being judged in Western paradigm, he noted that Africans must take control of their own continent and develop it themselves.
Izevbaye said: “We are in the neo-colonial phase. Our intellectuals are the puppets, they begin with our leaders. Our leaders always go to the West for solutions. The manipulation is in the form of manipulating leaders and then through agents, they manipulate the agents, and the West is made to be attractive for intellectuals.”
Other contributors decried that the leaders of countries on the continent were narrow-minded, cruel, stressing that the continent must promote its own, not waiting on others to promote its own works.
President, NAL, Professor Sola Akinrinade and Professor Olutayo Adesina moderated the discussion which also had in attendance, Professor Olu Obafemi, Dr Soji Oyeranmi, Professor Godwin Sogolo, Erelu Tunwase, Professor Dan Izevbaye, Professor Remi Raji, Professor Olawale Albert, Tunde Awosanmi, Professor Duro Oni, Professor Akin Alao, Enajite Ojaruega, Taiwo Oloruntoba-Oju, Professor Ajayi Soyinka.