I attended a private event and provided this perspective after a question. Question: “What do you think is Nigeria’s major problem now?”
Ndubuisi: “One of Nigeria’s major problems used to be that the public sector could not attract and retain its best talent, losing the finest to the private sector, with banking, oil & gas, telecoms, and recently VC-backed startups, dominating. Today, the challenge has evolved that Nigeria – both the private and the public sectors – cannot retain its young people.
“This poses an existential economic threat to the nation…. Across many sectors, by 5 years, the nation could have a severe gap, at top leadership, as middle managers continue to relocate to the UK, Canada, Australia and US. The healthcare sector in rural areas is largely fading. Even in tech, the executive pipeline is drying up as most tech leaders are leaving the nation.
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“I have a file here where I track leading venture-funded startups in Nigeria. My data shows that most of the top 5% startups are hiring foreigners at senior leadership…”
Comment on Feed
Comment 1: Our major economic problem is poor policy design and implementation, Corruption which has dampened local and international investment, nepotism that put wrong people as drivers of vital sectors of the economy, poor infrastructure, low level of capital and technology adoption in businesses. We have a high non productive population which needs to be equipped with the right tools. If we can put right people in right places in all sectors of the economy, reduce corruption maximally, we will start to experience phenomenal growth.
Comment 2: Perhaps, why Nigeria’s problem for the time being appears to be unsolvable is because it’s foundational. Moreover, since it benefits the political elite class who can positively reconstruct this defect at their behest, they’re willing to draw blood and die maintaining the status quo.
Comment 3: It’s such a shame that most of the politicians have failed to see things in the way we see it. If this brain drain syndrome continues, I’m afraid it might be the beginning of the end for us.
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The current exodus has acquired so much momentum that if and when it is ever stopped, the damage would have already been done.
The entry requirements of these countries funnel our Brightest minds out. The few left have their voices muffled by the Noise of Nepotism and mediocrity.
We talk a lot, but do very little or nothing. Which of those UK, US, Canada and Australia have better weather than Nigeria? So why do people leave naturally designed environment for human dwelling for places that alter and confuse their natural order?
It tells you the great lengths we are willing to go in order to avoid challenges or confront the demons staring us. We are problems identifiers but never problems solvers.
We have enough blames to go round, from politics to religion, from social construct to miseducation; but one thing we lack is shame.
Yea, blame the ‘elites’, and when you become an ‘elite’, those below will also blame you, and the cycle goes on forever.
We are quick to blame leadership until we are asked to choose the right leaders, then the argument will shift to ‘everyone has the right to support who he/she wants, and should not be bullied’; yea, we are such a serious people.
How many true Nigerians do you truly know? If can count just 100, focus on that 100, they are both the present and future; nobody builds a nation with fake humans. You do not have enough Nigerians in Nigeria.
The Nigerian government has taken a number of actions to address these issues, including diversifying the country’s economy away from oil, enhancing infrastructure, encouraging the growth of small businesses and entrepreneurship, and combating public sector corruption and mismanagement.
Nigeria’s challenges are deeply rooted in systemic issues, and until the political elite prioritize genuine reform over self-interest, meaningful progress will remain elusive.