Nnaoke Ufere, PhD
The promise and destiny of Nigeria is playing out in the United States. The significant contributions to the U.S. economy and politics brought by highly skilled, bright and motivated Nigerian immigrants and their children are building up U.S. success, to the neglect of Nigeria’s potential breakthrough in economic growth and social development.
The success of Nigerian-born professionals in the U.S. has created trust in Nigeria’s intellectual and professional abilities. It has been a major factor in rebranding Nigerian Americans as a source of well-educated and hard-working professionals, rather than a cesspool of corruption and internet fraudsters, as was the stereotype at the turn of the millennium.
There were an estimated 382,820 Nigerian-born people living in the U.S. in 2020, projected to grow to 499,667 by 2025, according to the American Community Survey by the U.S. Census Bureau.
The majority are highly sought-after professionals. Whether in academics, business leadership, entrepreneurship and innovation, engineering, finance, high technology, medicine, scientific research, sports, art, etc., there are no shortage of brilliant Nigerians.
In the U.S., more than half of Nigerian immigrants (54%) are most likely to hold upper management positions in top companies compared to 39% of the US-born population and 32% of the total foreign-born population, according to data from the Migration Policy Institute.
In addition, top U.S. universities like Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Yale, Columbia, CalTech, University of Michigan, University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Chicago, to name a few, mint new Nigerian graduates every year.
There are over 12,680 Nigerian students studying in the undergraduate and graduate levels in the US in 2021, according to Open Doors data. Many more are being educated in top universities in Canada, India and Europe.
Nigerians account for less than 1 percent of the black population in the United States, yet they make up nearly 28% percent of all Black students at top universities.
This is the highest of any African country. The top fields of study by Nigerians are Engineering (21%), Business (15%), Physical and life sciences (13%) and health professions (13%) according to the World Educational Service.
More than 60% of Nigerians in the U.S. hold a bachelor’s degree compared with 31% of the total foreign-born population and 32% of the US-born population.
Migration Policy Institute data shows that Nigerians are about three times more likely to hold a master’s degree, PhD, or an advanced professional degree compared to the general U.S. population (33% vs. 11%).
It is, therefore, no surprise that the median household income earned by Nigerians was $72,053 in 2021, more than the $61,937 earned by U.S. households in general.
Moreover, Nigerians are more likely to own their homes in desirable locations, compared to the general US population. Nigerian children are also more likely to be raised in a stable household with both parents.
In U.S. politics, Nigerian Americans are making tremendous progress. It is reported that in the 2022 midterm elections, eight Nigerian Americans won important seats. We have several top officials in the Biden administration.
When you put it all together, Nigerians in America are high achievers, highly talented and industrious, and prominently educated in sought-after fields. They are innovative, with high entrepreneurial orientation. They own businesses and run businesses for others. They are hardworking and relatively prosperous.
Armed with advanced knowledge and connections in high technology hubs, including Silicon Valley, Boston, Austin and elsewhere, and with the right opportunity and incentive in Nigeria, these highly skilled Nigerians might repatriate and become the catalyst for the successful growth of key industries in Nigeria.
These Nigerians represent the promise and destiny of Nigeria. The New Nigeria I envision will be triggered by what I call the Second Wave — when those who immigrated in the First Wave return to the homeland in the decades ahead to transform the nation and deliver the promise of Nigeria as a developed economy.
But will they return to the homeland?
Until the country is safe, fair, free, and uplifting, we cannot expect them to return, and until they return, we cannot expect Nigeria to prosper. But, once they do, we cannot imagine the heights to which Nigeria will soar as it becomes one of the greatest nations on earth – a place U.S. citizens seek education, employment, and a better life. (Read below how India, China, Taiwan and South Korea benefited from repatriation policies).
In this essay, I argue that the flow of returnees will depend on attractive opportunities, incentives, policies and environment that enable free market for talent and technological entrepreneurship to flourish, where existing businesses value the skills developed abroad, and where building new businesses is unconstrained by government red tape, political instability, insecurity, corruption and ethnoreligious bias (which I would argue are the main reasons demotivating returning). Finally, I present policy recommendations for repatriating Nigerians.
From Brain Drain to Brain Gain
The flight of top scientists, physicians, pharmacists and nurses from Nigeria, trained largely at public expense, has been a considerable loss of talent, especially for the academic and health sectors in Nigeria. The magnitude and trend of talent exit is worrisome, according to the Nigerian government and the United Nations.
The U.S. Federation of Medical Boards reported that 3,895 Nigerian-educated doctors are licensed to practice medicine in the U.S. as of 2020. Many more have found home in Europe and the Gulf States. The loss of their services is substantial, given the paucity of expert health services in Nigeria.
In addition, Nigerian students who study abroad tend to stay after earning their degrees, rather than return to the homeland, including those sponsored by the Nigerian government.
Accordingly, there’s been a lot of negative press by the Nigerian government on the “brain drain” of our most highly trained individuals to developed nations, especially the U.S.
Contrarily, I contend that ultimately brain drain is a positive phenomenon for Nigeria. As these Nigerian expatriates study and then work abroad, they acquire advanced technical expertise, managerial, democratic, and entrepreneurial skills.
Brain drain becomes “brain gain” when these highly skilled Nigerian emigrants return home with their skills and experiences and transfer high value-added scientific and organizational knowledge, practices, techniques and their international networks to transform the homeland economy.
Repatriation of these Nigerian innovators has the potential to seed local industries with technological knowledge, organizational practices, business models and market connections. In addition, they are likely to establish new ventures while maintaining close relationships with their networks in the U.S.
Transfer of these critical skills and expertise also has the potential to ignite a virtuous circle of innovative entrepreneurship and technological advancement, leading to rapid economic development.
But Will They Return?
Of course, the decision whether to return home will involve a rational calculation as to the probability of success and fulfillment in Nigeria.
Currently, returning home is not entirely in the trajectory for many in the U.S. A majority interviewed for this article confirmed preference to reside permanently, to raise their children, and retire in the U.S.
They share reluctance to return for the long run due to worsening political instability, insecurity and poor economic conditions, and a general lack of freedom of movement and expression in the country. They see a government that is more interested in sharing the oil wealth among few elites.
These patriotic Nigerians (yes, they love the country but hate the government) see a government less interested in talent and human capital development and investment in higher education, infrastructure and scientific research.
They see a government that has underperformed in improving the ease of doing business, and reducing corruption and ethnic bias in allocation of talent and capital.
On a personal level, Nigerians in America share common concerns about returning to a country where they can be kidnapped, robbed or killed with impunity.
They see how the federal character principle and quota system in government jobs created mediocrity. The sad media reports about returnees who were recruited by the government to lead top ministries, national agencies and scientific institutions, only to find themselves subordinated to less qualified persons, reinforce reluctance to return.
It will be a major loss for the country if nothing is done differently to address these concerns and bring our highly talented professionals back to Nigeria.
Here are policy suggestions to motivate and incentivize these experts to return to the homeland. We will need them.
Frameworks from Successful Return Policies
Research done by Devesh Kapur of Harvard identified critical paths for economic development based on successful brain gain policies implemented by India, Taiwan, China and Korea.
Nigeria can gain insights from these cases to develop appropriate policies and create a conducive local environment and incentive structures to attract skilled oversea Nigerians to the homeland.
The critical success factors will include: a President and National Assembly that value talent and are willing and able to do everything possible to repatriate skilled professionals.
This must include creating an environment (political and financial stability, security, protection of intellectual property, ease of doing business, rule of law and freedom of expression, etc.), and free market for talent, where skilled professionals can flourish, unconstrained by ethnic and religion quota, political patronage, and nepotism.
The physical environment is equally crucial. Adequate infrastructure – industrial and innovation hubs/clusters, housing, electricity, water, ICT, transportation, etc.
Lessons from Taiwan and South Korea
Both countries focused more on physical relocation of returnees. They worked particularly hard to attract scholars, researchers, skilled professionals in the STEM disciplines, and entrepreneurship and innovation.
Taiwan set up a government agency to coordinate efforts at encouraging returnees to set up businesses or join existing firms in their areas of expertise.
South Korea focused more effort to upgrade its research institutions, such as the Korea Institute for Science and Technology (KIST) and then recruited top diaspora scientists and administrators to run the research institutions.
Both countries created spatial high technology clusters such as science parks that provided one-stop plug-in business facilities similar to those in the U.S. and other countries.
To reach the best talents, both countries organized networks of professionals overseas and linked them with the local experts. For example, in the case of Korea, the Ministry of Science and Technology utilized contact of repatriated scientists as access points to develop new overseas networks.
Kapur reports that both countries deployed rigorous human capital recruiting programs to search for and attract experienced professionals and scholars by offering salaries competitive with overseas income, improved working conditions (research facilities, equipment, organizational autonomy), as well as housing facilities/financing, and help with paying for children’s schooling.
Although different in focus, both programs involved substantial efforts in making it easy for reentry by providing financial subsidies, including travel subsidies and business and housing loans. Salaries were equalized to meet or exceed what were been paid in the U.S.
For example, returnees joining KIST are given a large amount of research and managerial autonomy mirroring the research environment in the U.S.
Lessons from India
In India, Kapur posits that the success of overseas Indians in Silicon Valley has had a marked effect in shaping India’s strategies to repatriate skilled Indian diaspora. According to Migration Policy Institute, Indians who returned from the United States have founded and managed successful IT companies in India.
As noted by Migration Policy Institute, Indians who founded companies in Silicon Valley have subcontracted work to companies in India. These entrepreneurs often serve as vital channels between supply and demand of IT services in both markets.
India’s focus on and investments in technology and science education has translated into production of highly talented experts for export. The Indian Institute of Technology has world renown in attracting returnees and producing top IT talent for the world market of software and services. These returnees set up IT outsourcing firms to serve the rest of the world. Today, India dominates the IT outsourcing market.
The Indian model has one interesting lesson for industrial policy in Nigeria. Success in a new technological area has strong spillover effects in terms of confidence both within the country and outside. This can set forth a virtuous cycle that gradually infects other parts of the economy.
Lessons from China
No other country has benefited more from returnees as China. The industrial revolution that has catapulted China to the second economy in the world was partly engineered by returnees, especially from the U.S. Further, China recruited top Chinese scientists and engineers from abroad and appointed them to the highest positions in universities, research institutes and key strategic industries.
As reported by the Chinese Ministry of Education, 78% of the presidents, 63% of PhD advisers in Chinese universities and 72% of directors of key laboratories at the national and provincial levels are returnees.
Further, 81% of academics in the Chinese Academy of Sciences and 54% of academics in the Chinese Academy of Engineering studied overseas. In addition, the United Nations stated that 21 out of the 23 heroes on the “two bombs and one satellite” projects were returnees.
Like Taiwan, Korea and India, China focused on “Best Talent.” According to a UN report, many returnees have won the National Award for Science and Technology – the highest national recognition. Among the first winners of the National Award for Science and Technology, the National Award for Technological Invention, and the National Science and Technology Progress Award, 36.85% were returnees.
Importantly, China has witnessed the formidable economic and technological power of its returnees. They have started many high-tech companies and contributed immensely to the economic and social development of the country.
Further, they introduced many new management best practices and new financing strategies, which benefited the overall development of innovation and entrepreneurship in China. The new generations of returnees are a major driving force behind China’s powerful entrepreneurial movement.
Way Forward for Nigeria
The Nigerian government must take a more strategic and proactive approach to bring back Nigerians in the diasporas. Current attempts (e.g., Nigerian in Diaspora Organization Americas, NIDOA) have underperformed due to leadership issues, lack of strategic focus and organizational inefficiencies.
Nigerian returnees can benefit the nation by contributing advanced skills and technologies (human capital); access to business and innovation networks abroad (social capital); and financial capital and investment. These critical resources are what Nigeria desperately needs to achieve economic growth and social development in the decades ahead.
Return Policy Recommendations
Establish a comprehensive national talent development plan. The government and business executives must develop a comprehensive human capital development plan both in the short and long-term. The plan should target key areas of national development, especially in scientific research, physical/life sciences, engineering and technology, medical sciences, business leadership, innovation and entrepreneurship, finance and agriculture.
The plan must encourage free market for talent – that is, find and recruit the best strategic talent pool for national priorities, irrespective of tribe, religion, region or politics. The plan should exert an extremely powerful influence on the nation’s economic and social development for years to come.
Amend the constitution’s provisions in the federal character and quota system to allow exemptions for critical national recruitment. While the federal character provision was intended to equalize the playing field for federal jobs, the collateral damage has severely set the nation back. Therefore, I recommend the following strategic ministries, agencies and institutions be exempted from the federal character provisions:
- The Federal Ministry of Science and Technology
- National Space Research and Development Agency
- National Centre for Technology Management
- Sheda Science and Technology Complex
- National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure
- Project Development Institute
- Federal Institute of Industrial Research
- National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion
- National Universities Commission
- Nigerian Institute of Science Laboratory Technology
- Nigeria Nuclear Regulatory Authority
- Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
- Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council
- National Information Technology Development Agency
- National Biotechnology Development Agency
- Federal Ministry of Finance
- Federal Ministry of Education
- Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment
- National Agricultural Seeds Council
- And other important research institutions.
Establish a Ministry of Nigerians Abroad to coordinate activities aimed at reaching out to the diaspora, including both Nigerian-born and diaspora youth. The ministry should plan and coordinate annual awards for eminent Nigerian diaspora personalities based on tangible, significant achievements.
Establish a Global Returnee Council — the president should establish a top-class Global Returnee Council reporting directly to the presidency, consisting of diasporic scholars, scientists, entrepreneurs, politicians, and business executives. The council will collaborate with the Ministry of Nigerians Abroad to formulate policies and guidelines to encourage the return of talent to the homeland.
Grant Lifelong visas. The government should grant a lifelong visa to Nigerians in the diaspora who do not carry a Nigerian passport. The visa should not have a stay limit; holders can stay as long as they want.
Make investment in Nigeria easy. With the financial resources of diaspora Nigerians, the government should amend investment laws and establish the Nigerians Abroad Investment Facility to make it easier for Nigerians abroad to invest in the local economy. The current red tape discourages investment.
Leverage the brand of Nigerians in the diaspora – Nigerian foreign policy must begin to recognize the value of talented Nigerians, especially to the United States, and use it for public diplomacy. Nigerians play a vital role in American industries, universities, research institutes, sports and entertainment and the health system, especially in the elderly homecare sector and in rural communities.
The government should host an annual diaspora conference, designed for interaction between diaspora Nigerians, the government, and interested sectors of Nigerian society, such as entrepreneurs, business executives, investors and cultural organizations. High-level political leaders, including the president, top ministers, and business leaders should participate in productive discussions about opportunities and challenges facing the country and roles returnees can play.
Make Nigeria stable, safe, free and livable — above all else, the Nigerian government must create an enabling environment for everyone to feel safe, secure and be productive. Investment in infrastructure and security of life and property is paramount if oversea Nigerians are to return, or any Nigerian for that matter, to stay in the country. This single deterrent is likely to overshadow and neutralize any other positive incentive. Thus, this must be our first priority if we expect any other incentive to carry weight.
Until the country is safe, fair, free, and uplifting, we cannot expect them to return, and until they return, we cannot expect Nigeria to prosper. But, once they do, we cannot imagine the heights to which Nigeria will soar as it becomes one of the greatest nations on earth – a place U.S. citizens seek education, employment, and a better life.
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