Brain drain in the creative sector

Genevieve

OSEYIZA OOGBODO BLOG writes on the adverse effects of brain drain on Nigeria’s creative sector, disclosing that the sector would have been more vibrant and beneficial to the economy if it didn’t also suffer from the deadly malaise that brain drain is.

The issue of brain drain is definitely one that is an albatross on Nigeria. Though it is not as celebrated as corruption, tribalism, nepotism, selfishness, etc, it is also one of Nigeria’s most negative aspects. It affects every sector of Nigeria’s economy, but funny enough, when brain drain is spoken about, it is only with regards to certain sectors.

For instance, a lot of people are concerned about Nigeria’s medical brain drain. They complain volubly that Nigerian doctors and nurses are the ones making the European, American medical sectors successful at the expense of Nigeria’s.

“Even in Saudi Arabia, Nigerian doctors and nurses are in all their hospitals helping their healthcare sector become better,” complained a sick woman, Mrs Bolaji Alade, who had cause to visit one of the general hospitals and was shocked by the reception she received there.

According to her: “The hospital’s staff were nonchalant and lording it over the patients they were supposed to attend to. There was no organisation whatsoever to speak of. Everything was just shambles and I had to find my way to a private hospital as it was obvious their nonchalance and disorganisation would only worsen my condition.”

The medical sector is just one of the sectors considered prominent enough for its brain drain to be lamented about. Other similar sectors are engineering, ICT and other specialist fields. A popular example is the case of Philip Emeagwali who is believed to be instrumental to the creation of the internet. Nigerians say proudly that Emegwali is one of our own. Needless to say, Emeagwali is not based in Nigeria, and doesn’t seem to have any plans to relocate to this country whose citizens are proud of his achievements in the worldwide ICT sector.

As the nation continues to mourn and berate the effects of brain drain on the nation, they do so only with the mindset that brain drain affects sectors that require a high level of education. This seems to be quite wrong, however, as one sector that Nigerians disregard and look down upon to our overall detriment and don’t even talk about its brain drain effects is the creative sector.

This is a sector that doesn’t depend on a high level of education but raw talent for sustenance. It is a sector made up of high school and tertiary institution dropouts, societal misfits, casual workers turned celebrities, grass to grace stories and suchlike.

Practitioners in this sector are music artists, actors, comedians and even writers. They do not really need first degrees or other professional certificates to become successful in any of the creative sector fields.

Many examples abound among them. 2face Idibia and D’Banj, two of our greatest urban music artists, didn’t complete their tertiary education. Femi Kuti, arguably our current most accomplished musician internationally, didn’t even go to tertiary institution at all. Genevieve who is rated all over the world as one of our top actresses never went to tertiary institution too.

One of the sector’s personalities, Ed Jatto, a musician, TV and music producer, writer and entrepreneur, says of the situation: “I cry for Nigeria. Nigeria is losing a lot of its creative talents to the Western world. Musicians, journalists, actors, photographers and many others. And that’s why I cry for Nigeria. We are losing all these talents, but nobody cares.”

Having been a professional in the music sector of Nigeria’s creative industry since the 70s, Jatto obviously knows what he’s talking about. “My first album, Love Explosion, was released in the 80s. I was one of the sound engineers that worked on Dizzy K Falola’s hit track, Baby Kilode. Dizzy was a big artist and very talented. But where is he today? Is he still in Nigeria?”

Shaking his head sadly, he continued, “It’s not just Dizzy alone. There’s Majek Fashek, Mike Okri, Ras Kimono and many others. Even I myself. Though I’ve been back from America since 2004, and Mike Okri, Majek Fashek and Ras Kimono are also back now, there are many more talents out there that should be at home contributing to the proper development of our creative sector to make it comparable to America’s and Europe’s.”

Not ready to beat about the bush, he continued: “As I said, these talents are out there, but nobody notices. And you know why? Because they are not doctors, scientists, engineers and other specialists. So people don’t feel that they are a loss to the nation. So when they are talking about brain drain, they don’t mention the creative talents.

“They say it loudly that if only all our doctors abroad were at home, our healthcare sector will be better. You won’t really hear them saying that of the creative sector. Was Majek’s relocation to America not a loss to this nation?”

Jatto lived in America for fourteen and a half years. “It was my time in America that opened my eyes to the brain drain Nigeria’s creative sector is suffering. America’s creative sector is great and respected worldwide because America’s creative talents stay there in America to develop it.

“And just as America is blessed with great creative talents, guys like George Lucas who created Star Wars, Steven Spielberg who directs great movies, musicians who make music that set the standard in the world, authors whose books are sought after worldwide, Nigeria too is blessed with these talents. But we are losing them to the West at an alarming rate.

“The same way the medical doctors complain that they are able to practice better in foreign hospitals, that’s the same way our creative talents feel they can express themselves better with all the equipments available to them in America and Europe.”

To buttress his point, Jatto cited examples. “The story of Keke and D1 best illustrates the creative brain drain loss Nigeria is suffering. If we had lost these two guys to America, the music industry might still have developed the way it has now, but certainly not at the pace it did under them.

“Don Jazzy and D’Banj are another example. Their return from the UK to Nigeria really enhanced the music industry greatly. Same thing with movie makers I keep reading about who return from Canada, America, etc, to make movies that are making the world reckon with Nigeria as a country that positive things are coming from.

“And mind you, it’s only the creative sector that can sell Nigeria to the world. What sells America to the world? It’s their movies, music, clothes, etc. Our creative efforts will also sell us to the world, but only if the brain drain in the sector is arrested.”

Trying to trace the cause of the sector’s brain drain, he said, “Sometimes it’s not all about the need for money or to work with the best equipments which are unavailable in Nigeria. Sometimes it’s just about the need to be appreciated. If you’re a creative person in the West, you can be rest assured that you will really be appreciated.

“The society won’t look down on you that you are a lay-about. You won’t be tolerated. Nobody will care about your educational attainments. You will be appreciated and encouraged by people to come up with creative efforts that will benefit the world.

“But we all know the story here in Nigeria is different. Parents wouldn’t really want their children to go into creative fields. They prefer them to be engineers, doctors, and so on. Professions believed to be dignified.

“But there in America or Europe, once you are a creative person, you have a voice. You are a public institution. Your word carries weight with the public. Just a few years ago, the parents of a girl in the UK who ran away from home called on David Beckham, a footballer, to help them appeal to her to return home.”

Defiantly, Jatto said, “Even if the Nigerian society continues to fail to appropriate to the creative sector the rightful accolades it deserves, it doesn’t take away the fact that creative people are indispensable, just like doctors.

“The services we provide are of huge value in relieving survival-induced tension in humans, as well as fostering unity in all and sundry, for the reason that if you’re not enamoured with one form of creative service, you will be with another, meaning that if you don’t like movies, you will like books or sports.”

Ticking off a list of creative talents that Nigeria has unreasonably lost, he said, “The ones that readily come to mind are Ben Okri, Bola Abimbola, Regina Askia, Dizzy K Falola, Pat Attah, Dekunle Fuji, Jide Chord, and even the late Chinua Achebe. These are guys whose relocation have drained the country of the benefits of their brainy ideas and talents.

“I bet you that if all these guys were still in the country, Nigeria’s creative sector would have become so big and respected worldwide that it would actually be earning our economy solid cash. You will realise that is not a frivolous claim when you recall that 2face’s African Queen song was a worldwide sensation and Ben Okri’s book, The Famished Road, is too.”

Research conducted by OOB into the backgrounds and careers of some names mentioned by Jatto augmented Jatto’s claims.

Amongst them, Abimbola is a very monumental loss. An all-round creative personality, his talents are inimitable, to say the least. He released his first album, Silifa Bamijo, in 1987 when he was just 18 years old. Since then, he has released four more albums.

However, his work with other musicians as a back-up singer, producer, composer, arranger, songwriter and music video director is the reason his departure to the USA in 1998 to take up residence there is a loss for the country.

Also an actor and creative writer, some of the musicians Abimbola was influential in their success include Pasuma, Saheed Osupa, King Sunny Ade, Kollington Ayinla, to mention a few. And if such A-list artists eagerly employed his services, you can imagine how valuable he would be to the many upcoming artists in the booming music industry.

An actress who reigned supreme during her time in Nollywood and was undisputedly Nollywood’s top personality while she was in Nigeria is Regina Askia. Extremely talented, Askia is really the actress whose beauty, style, poise, carriage and talent made people really fall in love with Nollywood.

Despite her diva status in Nigeria, she packed her bags and headed out to America where her light hasn’t really shone as bright as it did in Nigeria, yet she prefers to remain there when Nollywood is just waiting to embrace her and her talents again, and many upcoming actresses she inspired are just hoping for an opportunity to work with her.

The renowned author, Chinua Achebe, was another creative personality who turned his back on Nigeria. Achebe’s loss was particularly painful because he was extremely intelligent and didn’t write frivolous fiction, but that which exposed the African problem.

But when he became a victim of the African problem himself through an accident that conscripted him to a wheelchair, he became disillusioned with the continent and quit it for America,where he resided and worked till he died.

Ben Okri is another big loss. He published his first novel, Flowers And Shadows, when he was just 17 years old. Another of his books, The Famished Road, won the prestigious Booker prize. If he was still in Nigeria, he would be doing invaluable work being a mentor and big influence on young writers for the overall progress of the literary trade which is dying faster by the day in the country.

Though many of our creative personalities are returning home now, they are not doing so fast enough and the continuing bad leadership in the country continues to obstruct the appropriate growth of the creative and other sectors.

And until the country really gets better, the brain drain will continue, in every sector.

What a pity!