We are losing human capital when migration occurs – Akande-Sadipe

Hon. Tolulope Akande-Sadipe, Chairperson, House Committee on Diaspora

 The Chairperson, House Committee on Diaspora, Hon. Tolulope Akande-Sadipe was at the recent Journalist International Forum for Migration (JIFORM) on African Media Summit on Migration. Below is her speech as posted on her Instagram handle.

Speech

"People migrate in search of work or economic opportunities, to join family, or to study. Others move to escape conflict, persecution, terrorism, or human rights violations. Still others migrate in response to the adverse effects of climate change, natural disasters, or other environmental factors. In Nigeria, we have both internal and external movement and is mostly caused by insecurity, consequences of climate change, lessening resources and economic challenges."

"While many individuals migrate out of choice, many others migrate out of necessity. At the end of 2018 the number of globally forcibly displaced people topped 70million for the first time in United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ (UNHCR) almost 70year history. This number includes almost 26million refugees, 3.5million asylum seekers, and over 41million internally displaced persons."

"Why is there so much migration, why is migration generally on the rise in Nigeria? Nigeria is a country where unemployment rate is very high – I met a young man weeks ago, he is the only graduate in his family and to achieve that he went through a lot with the hope that upon graduation he will get a job and earn a living, this young man has been a graduate for over 4 years and till now no job, his peers who went into the business of trading are now their own masters and better off than him, in his words “why did I go to school and spend so much to achieve it when now I have nothing to show for it. This young man if given the opportunity to travel will go abroad for a better standard of living even if it is through illegal means. We are losing human capital when migration occurs. Our best doctors have left the country, our best professionals in general have left the country."

"Government’s needs to be receptive to the dangers of illegal migration with regards to humanity. Efforts must be made on creating awareness on the dangers of irregular migration. Adequate resources need to be channeled at mitigating the factors that drive its occurrence. A secure Nigeria where there is economic prosperity will significantly drop the propensity for migration."