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Benjamin Babine, Abuja
All Progressives Congress (APC) flag-bearer, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu has lamented the perils of brain drain in the country as well as the ongoing strike in Federal Universities, calling on the Federal Government to hastily intervene.
The Edo governorship candidate mentioned this as he attended the launching of Emmanuella Mayaki’s ICT Academy, which was funded by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and situated in Abuja. Emmanuella is the 11-year-old Nigerian tech guru who gained public notice after being recruited last year to teach coding to pupils, in the United Kingdom.
Ize-Iyamu opined that Nigeria’s best hands, from doctors to teachers, are all seeking greener pastures abroad because of the poor state of the economy. He mentioned that many doctors in Edo state were recently recruited to Saudi Arabia, leaving the countries health sector in the hands of novices.
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Ize-Iyamu said: “I think the real things was that her gift made way for her. The reason why she has become prominent is that people abroad identified what she has. In Nigeria, we can see talent and ignore it but abroad, they see talent and they want to nurture it. Most of what we are seeing here now, is being funded by the BBC which is also good and at the same time the question will be what are we doing as a country to harness our talents.
“It is not enough to give a cash prize of hundred thousand naira. BBC wont give any cash prize but they rented this place, furnished it and you can see that they are interested in actually seeing the programme. They are here to see for themselves to see whether children will also enrol in the academy and if by the grace of God things go well, this academy will be something they will grow and become quite big.
“When you talk about brain drain, just recently, they came from Saudi Arabia and they practically took almost all the doctors in Edo state. Our health situations is bad and it is getting worst because anyone who is experienced is being taken away so we are left with basically resident doctors and youth corpers who are still learning the ropes. Operations they ought not to do because there’s no senior colleague, they will be forced to do it and it result to casualty.”
About the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike, he said: “this incessant strike that cannot be resolved quickly to the extent that erode on a full academic year is tragic. For a student, before you know it people who are your classmates are now your seniors and for some children, psychologically it doesn’t go well for them. I want to appeal that areas like this should be seen as very critical institutions and whatever the issues are, they should try to deal with them as quickly as possible.”
