The Chief Executive Officer of health-tech company Axxess, John Olajide, said the Nigerian government and private individuals need to be deliberate about creating opportunities for young people to minimize the mass exodus currently being witnessed.
According to him, many young Nigerians are leaving the country because they see no future economically in the country.
While acknowledging that Nigeria’s key resource is its human capital, Olajide said losing them to other countries will have adverse effects on the Nigerian economy.
He believes that with good opportunities and a good rewarding system for hard work, many Nigerians will stay back and help to build the country.
What the Axxess CEO is saying
Speaking on why many Nigerians are leaving the country in an exclusive interview with Nairametrics, Olajide said:
- “When people don’t have economic opportunities, they have to make decisions to provide for themselves and their families. But as many young people are leaving their society for opportunities elsewhere, that society, where they’re departing from, suffers because they are channelling their productive energies to other societies. Many are leaving because they don’t believe there’s a future in economic opportunities for them here.”
He then suggested ways to reduce the number of people leaving the country, saying:
- “I believe we need to create economic opportunities for people here so they can live their fullest lives. And then if you want to go all over the world to acquire knowledge, that’s wonderful. When we create economic opportunities, more people will stay here and contribute positively to society.
Olajide, whose software engineering support company, Cavista, has engaged 300 young software engineers across Nigeria added:
- “All these young people that you’re seeing are the best and brightest engineers, not just in Nigeria, but the best and brightest engineers in the world. They work here in Nigeria and they are serving several companies all over the world. I believe in what they’re doing. And I believe we need to harness the power and have millions of people like them in every field of human endeavour, making their contributions to help us be successful.
- “It doesn’t matter where you’re from. I believe we all want the same things; we want access to opportunity; we want good health; we want good education; we want to feel secure. We want to be sure that we can work hard and be rewarded based on merit, not because we’re connected to someone or some advantage. And I believe this is achievable in Nigeria. This is the narrative that we must all drive to build a successful Nigeria.”
