Turning Nigeria’s migration wave into an economic asset

I know some experts have written several articles concerning this subject matter. Specifically, though, this is looking at what some nations with more than enough human resources, like Nigeria, have done, not to reverse the migration trend but to profit both the migrant’s nation and the nation of abode.

Over the past few years, the word ‘japa, a Yoruba slang meaning ‘to run away’, has become a defining metaphor for Nigeria’s brain drain. From doctors to software engineers, welders to university lecturers, Nigerians left in unprecedented numbers. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), over 2 million Nigerians left the country between 2020 and 2024, while the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) estimates that at least 1,200 Nigerians migrate irregularly every month, many through unsafe and undocumented routes across the Sahara and the Mediterranean.

Yet amid this exodus, Nigeria seems to be losing more than it gains. The challenge, however, is not migration itself, but how the country manages it. If properly structured, Nigeria’s outflow of talent can be turned into an engine for economic growth, not a drain on it.

Nations like India and the Philippines have long learnt how to make migration work for them. India, for instance, has signed over 20 labour-mobility agreements with nations in Europe, East Asia, and the Gulf, ensuring that exported workers are documented, protected, and economically linked to their home economy. The Philippines, through its Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), manages about 10 million overseas workers, whose remittances contribute over $36 billion yearly, accounting for almost 10 percent of its GDP.

Nigeria’s remittances, by contrast, hover around $20 billion yearly, according to the World Bank (2024), but most of it comes from Nigerians who migrated on their own, not through structured agreements that ensure skills transfer or eventual reintegration. Much of the Japa movement is spontaneous, unregulated, and often illegal.

Rather than discouraging Nigerians from leaving, the government should adopt a new approach: reframe japa into labour mobility. That is, design formal, legal channels through which Nigerians can work abroad temporarily, gain skills, send remittances, and return home to contribute to national development.

At the heart of Japa is a crisis of confidence in Nigeria’s system. The unemployment rate remains around 33.3 percent (NBS, 2023), while youth unemployment exceeds 53 percent. Inflation has surged past 30 percent, and the naira has lost more than half its value since 2022. For many young people, migrating is no longer a choice; it is survival.

However, the high demand for Nigerian workers abroad is real. In the UK, the Nursing and Midwifery Council reported that Nigerians made up the third-largest group of foreign-trained nurses in 2024. Canada’s Express Entry programme listed Nigeria among its top five source nations for skilled immigrants. Gulf nations like the UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia are also seeking skilled and semi-skilled African labour.

The question, then, is not whether Nigerians should migrate but whether Nigeria should manage and benefit from that migration.

Read also: Nigeria records 149% surge in UK student visas, despite tight immigration controls

Illegal migration comes with devastating human and economic costs. Thousands of Nigerians have died crossing the Sahara Desert or drowning in the Mediterranean. Many others fall into exploitation, forced labour, or modern-day slavery. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reports that Nigerians make up about 6 per cent of African victims of human trafficking in Europe.

For every professional who leaves permanently, Nigeria loses not only their skills but also the cost of training them. According to the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), the country spends about N3 million to train one doctor and has lost over 15,000 doctors to foreign hospitals in the last five years. That is a silent haemorrhage of national investment.

It is time to move from lamentation to strategy. Nigeria can learn from nations that have transformed migration into an economic advantage.

Firstly, the government should negotiate bilateral labour-mobility agreements with nations facing labour shortages, such as Canada, the UK, Germany, and the Gulf states. Such agreements would ensure that Nigerian workers are recruited legally, paid fairly, and protected by international standards.

Secondly, the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI) should be strengthened to work with the Ministry of Labour and Employment in developing a National Labour Mobility Policy. This would formalise migration processes, link remittances to community development, and create re-entry pathways for returnees.

Thirdly, the government should invest in skills alignment programmes and vocational and technical training centres that prepare Nigerians for international labour demands. For instance, Germany’s new Skilled Immigration Act has opened up opportunities for electricians, welders, and mechanics. With the right training and certification, Nigeria can legally export such labour while protecting its citizens abroad.

Above all, Nigeria must establish a diaspora investment framework that incentivises remittances into productive sectors, such as agriculture, housing, education, and technology, instead of mere consumption. With $20 billion in annual remittances, channeling 10 percent into structured investment vehicles could transform the economy.

The Japa trend is a mirror reflecting Nigeria’s governance and economic failures. But it can also become a catalyst for policy innovation. Migration, when organised, is not an escape; it is a strategy. It can relieve unemployment at home, enhance skills, and increase foreign exchange inflows.

If Nigeria continues to let its citizens leave unregulated, the country will keep losing both its brains and its hope. But if it redefines migration as a managed form of labour mobility, backed by agreements, protection, and reintegration, the story could change.

In the global market for talent, people are the new oil. Nations that learn to refine and export their human capital responsibly will gain far more than those that try, unsuccessfully, to hold them back.

Socio-cultural Affairs

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