BRAIN DRAIN SCOURGE: THE DRAIN, THE STRAIN AND THE GAIN

1. BRAIN DRAIN SCOURGE: THE DRAIN, THE STRAIN AND THE GAIN By: ADE FATAI ADENIYI Ph.D. (Physiotherapy), LMRTBN, MNSP. For NAPS/BUK 27th October, 2007

2. NAPS/BUK 2 INTRODUCTION RATIONALE DISCUSSION CONCLUSION/RECOMMENDATION

3. NAPS/BUK 3 INTRODUCTION THE CONERSTONES! Brain Drain Brain Gain Brain Exchange Brain Circulation

4. NAPS/BUK 4 INTRODUCTION (Contd.) BRAIN DRAIN: The loss of skilled intellectual and technical labour through the movement of such labour to more favourable geographic, economic, or professional environments. The departure of educated or talented persons for better pay or jobs elsewhere

5. NAPS/BUK 5 INTRODUCTION (Contd.) BRAIN DRAIN������ depletion or loss of intellectual and technical personnel A brain drain or human capital flight is an emigration of trained and talented individuals ("human capital") to other nations or jurisdictions for one reason or the other.

6. NAPS/BUK 6 INTRODUCTION (contd.) ONCE UPON A TIME�������. The greatest brain drains have been from rural to urban areas. In the 19th century and 20th century there were notable emigrations to North America from Europe In modern times, from developing nations to developed nations, especially after colonialism. Sometimes such drains have occurred between developed countries.

7. NAPS/BUK 7 INTRODUCTION (contd.) One of the first documented brain drains occurred during the Dark Ages, when emigrants from the Byzantine Empire played an important role in the transmission of classical knowledge to the Islamic world and to Renaissance Italy. The rise of the Nazis drove a great number of European scientists (many of whom were either Jewish or opposed to Nazism) to flee to the United States.

8. NAPS/BUK 8 INTRODUCTION (contd.) European scientists played a large role in the success of the Manhattan project that built the first atomic bombs. Enrico Fermi, Albert Einstein, and many other European scientists joined the Manhattan Project.

9. NAPS/BUK 9 INTRODUCTION (contd.) During the immediate post-war period, Operation Paperclip was used to capture many German rocket engineers such as Wernher von Braun Wernher von Braun and other German engineers used their research on the V-2 as a starting point for the US missile program. Without Wernher von Braun, the United States missile program would not have been able to make such quick progress Many other German aerospace engineers used aerospace technology developed in Germany to design missiles and aircraft As an example, the delta wing was first pioneered on the Messerschmidt Komet, which was used in the design of the US Space Shuttle Wing.

10. NAPS/BUK 10 INTRODUCTION contd. BRAIN DRAIN term is dated back to about 1960 It originated when many British scientists and intellectuals emigrated to the United States for a better working climate Spokesmen for the Royal Society of London coined the expression �brain drain� to describe the outflow of scientists and technologists to Canada and the United States in the early 1950s. 

11. NAPS/BUK 11 INTRODUCTION contd. Many Continents and Countries have had their share of the BD scourge The former Soviet Union countries and today's Russia continue to experience a brain drain in science, business, and culture, as many of their citizens leave for the USA, Israel, Europe, Japan, China and Latin America because of dramatic political and economic changes. In particular, Eastern European countries have expressed concerns about brain drain to Ireland and the UK. Lithuania, for example, has lost about 100,000 citizens since 2003, many of them young and well-educated, to emigration to Ireland in particular.

12. NAPS/BUK 12 INTRODUCTION contd. Many other countries like Poland, France, Germany, Yugoslavia, Romania and Bulgaria have had their share of the BD Iraq and Iran are the worst hit by BD in the Middle East Australia has benefited greatly from BD from New Zealand In Asia and Pacific, Philippines is the worst hit

13. NAPS/BUK 13 COMING HOME World Bank Report reveals that the brain drain is massive in small and poor developing countries Brain drain has cost the African continent over $4 billion in the employment of 150,000 expatriate professionals annually According to UNDP, "Ethiopia lost 75 per cent of its skilled workforce between 1980 and 1991" which harms the ability of such nations to get out of poverty

14. NAPS/BUK 14 COMING HOME��� Nigeria, Kenya and Ethiopia are believed to be the most affected. In the case of Ethiopia; while the country produces a lot of very good doctors, there are more Ethiopian doctors in Chicago than there are in Ethiopia.

15. NAPS/BUK 15 YOU NEED TO KNOW Data on 1,523 of the most highly cited scientists across 21 different fields revealed that overall, 31.9% of these scientists did not reside in the country where they were born!!! 94% of the expected top scientists worldwide have not been able to materialize themselves due to various adverse conditions Not a single foreign-born highly cited scientist was found residing in any country not belonging to established market economies

16. NAPS/BUK 16 YOU NEED TO KNOW���. With a bias for health sector��. International medical graduates constitute between 23 and 28 percent of physicians in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. Lower-income countries supply between 40 and 75 percent of these international medical graduates India, the Philippines, and Pakistan are the leading sources of international medical graduates UK, Canada, and Australia draw a substantial number of physicians from SA, and the US draws very heavily from the Philippines

17. NAPS/BUK 17 YOU NEED TO KNOW���. Nine of the 20 countries with the highest emigration factors are in sub-Saharan Africa or the Caribbean. US is the major recipient but loses least !!!

18. NAPS/BUK 18 OF WHAT IMPORTANCE IS BD? Because����� BD has had devastating effects on the developing nations: Substantial immigration of Skilled man power to developed countries, much of it coming from lower-income countries. Recipient nations and the immigrating personnel benefit from this migration. Less developed countries lose important capabilities as a result of the loss of quality professionals.

19. NAPS/BUK 19 OF WHAT IMPORTANCE IS BD?......... Biting effects on ALL aspects of human endeavour Notably are: Education Health Technology

20. NAPS/BUK 20 WORST HIT For emphasis, this phenomenon is widespread and most problematic for developing nations In these countries, visitations, higher education and professional certification are often viewed as the surest path to escape from a troubled economy or difficult political situation

21. NAPS/BUK 21 THE DRAIN Brain drain can occur either when individuals who study abroad and complete their education do not return to their home country, or when individuals educated in their home country emigrate for higher wages or better opportunities. The second form is arguably worse, because it drains more resources from the home country.

22. NAPS/BUK 22 DRAIN��� Why is the BD Intractable? Dwindling Economic fortunes Inadequate social infrastructure Political Instability Conflicts Lack of opportunity Health hazards

23. NAPS/BUK 23 DRAIN��� Discrimination Peer pressure Unfavourable working environment Intimidation of junior personnel Over dependence on government for everything and �expecting something for nothing� Refusal to come home after a period of study leave/fellowship abroad

24. NAPS/BUK 24 DRAIN��� A TYPICAL NIGERIAN GRADUTE CANNOT: Live in his own house Own properties in good neighborhood Invest in landed properties Have personal means of decent transportation Give children good education up to university level Feed and clothe family appropriately Provide adequate health services for family Enjoy planned vacation Have access to portable water, constant supply of electricity, good communication facilities, access to information and other social facilities for quality and comfortable living and lifestyle

25. NAPS/BUK 25 DRAIN��.. Decline of real wages of workers Even though salaries have been increased, real earning is inadequate A post NYSC Physiotherapist in 1977 earned equivalent of �2,500.00 basic pay per annum. While a professor in 2007 earns a basic annual salary of < �4,000.00!

26. NAPS/BUK 26 DRAIN���. Uncertainty in the polity Impatience on the part of the personnel, esp. Jnrs. Overdependence on the oil sector of the economy with a neglect of the non-oil sector Nigeria has one of the worst unemployment rate in the world with about 10 million people actively looking for job

27. NAPS/BUK 27 DRAIN��.. ATTRACTION��. In 2000, the US Congress announced it was raising the annual slot on the number of temporary work visas granted to highly skilled professionals under its H1B visa program, from 115,000 to 195,000 per year, effective through 2003. A significant portion of this program was initiated by lobbyists from the computer industry, including Bill Gates. We are all familiar with the household DV programme of the US where individuals apply for permanent residence in the US This has been termed in local Yoruba parlance as �Modern Slavery�!

28. NAPS/BUK 28 DRAIN��� In the year 2000 too, the British government, in cooperation with the Wolfson Foundation, a research charity, launched a �20 million, five-year research award scheme aimed at drawing the return of the UK�s leading expatriate scientists and sparking the migration of top young researchers to the United Kingdom.

29. NAPS/BUK 29 DRAIN���. We are also aware of the various migration schemes in place to facilitate the drift of highly skilled personnel to the UK The government of the UK is committed to achieving a rapid increase of 9,500 physicians by a combination of new medical schools and increased recruitment abroad. Canada is adding residency positions to accommodate more international medical graduates and is streamlining immigration and training requirements to facilitate the direct entry of international medical graduates into practice Australia plans to increase the numbers of Overseas Trained Doctors and Temporary Resident Doctors in practice, in addition to increasing the number of medical school positions.

30. NAPS/BUK 30 THE STRAIN Investment in higher education is lost when a trained individual leaves and does not return Also, whatever social capital the individual has been a part of is reduced by his or her departure Loss in financial resources (investment in education) Loss of human capital (gifted, ambitious people) Unavailability of skilled manpower to drive the machineries of our national progress The schools are suffering, the health sector is wailing but the aspect of ICT is gradually coming to live

31. NAPS/BUK 31 THE STRAIN��� High profile scientific and technological discoveries are hampered in Nigeria due to devastating effect of BD While this is happening, we have numerous Nigerians all over the globe assisting in developing the economies of their respective host countries

32. NAPS/BUK 32 THE STRAIN��. Creation of false impressions on our youth who believe that success in their career depends on how far they could travel Source nations are affected by the "Western aspirations" of their students, so that their training programs are not well aligned to tackle local demands. The result is that graduates become dissatisfied with opportunities in their own countries, inappropriately trained for local problems, and inclined to seek placement abroad.

33. NAPS/BUK 33 THE STRAIN�... While report shows that money migrants sent back home generally meant a greater investment in education, one exception noted from research findings is that it could have some negative effect on the recipients Studies found that children aged 16 to 18 years in households from which someone had migrated had lower levels of schooling compared to households where no-one migrated overseas

34. NAPS/BUK 34 THE GAIN Counterpart of BD the is Brain Gain in the areas to which talent migrates Creates room for Brain Exchange Brain exchange helps in importation of knowledge, skills and technology when properly harnessed Eliminates �egocentric feelings� of self sufficiency that beclouds nations and restricted/limited individuals Regardless of the type of migrant - educated or not - the money the migrants send back home does help alleviate poverty in their former home Close to 200 million people are living outside of their home countries, with remittances estimated to about US$225 billion in 2005, according to Global Economic Prospects 2006.

35. NAPS/BUK 35 THE GAIN�� The World Bank's Chief Economist and Senior Vice President for Development Economics, Fran�ois Bourguignon, says the household survey evidence demonstrates a direct link between migration and poverty reduction A survey of Filipino households shows the remittances they receive mean less child labour, greater child schooling, more hours worked in self employment and a higher rate of people starting capital intensive enterprises. In the Guatemala case study, remittances also reduced the level and severity of poverty.

36. NAPS/BUK 36 THE GAIN��. Report shows that money migrants sent back to Guatemala was spent more in investments - such as education, health and housing. BD if metamorphosed to BE exposes the professional to other ways of doing things and broadening their views of science and technology This will bring advances in science, technology and innovations for national growth

37. NAPS/BUK 37 ANY WAY OUT? Economic empowerment Wealth creation Employment generation Poverty reduction Elimination of corruption Value re-orientation Political stability Improvement in security and human right records

38. NAPS/BUK 38 ANY WAY OUT?........ Enrolment in school need to be boosted especially for the girl child Education needs to be compulsory and free especially at the primary level All Nigerians need to have access to qualitative education Post basic and Higher education training should include specific courses on entrepreneurship skills as sought by the NUC in order to prepare graduates for becoming employment generators rather than employment seekers Any opportunity skilled persons have to be employers of labour should be maximally utilized

39. NAPS/BUK 39 ANY WAY OUT?........ The NEEDS document annex expects at least 40% of graduates of tertiary institutions including to create jobs and be self employed Graduates should be empowered to meet this target Adequate votes should be made to our educational institutions to empower them in creating the necessary skilled manpower required for national development Our social infrastructure should be adequate and standard Health and educational institutions should be equipped with required equipments and personnel to reduce frustration encountered by personnel

40. NAPS/BUK 40 ANY WAY OUT?........ Technical institutes should be lively Security of life and property will reduce emigration rate Basic infrastructures- roads, electricity, access to portable water and sanitation are of importance if BD needs to be curtailed Job at all levels and facets should be made attractive Each serious country should vigorously pursue the attainment of the UN MDGs. Gender equality, environmental concerns, rural and urban development, health and educational system dev., and science, technology and innovation Value re-orientation for our youth Developed countries may be far ahead in science, technology and economies, but non of them have the monopoly of these, citizens from the developed world are attracted to advance these developments

41. NAPS/BUK 41 FINALLY ALL hands must be on deck to reduce poverty and its accomplices Joblessness Diseases Hunger THESE ARE THE WAYS OUT OF BD!!!

42. NAPS/BUK 42