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Obama challenges Nigeria, others to reverse brain drain

By on August 5, 2015

The United States President, Barack Obama, on Monday said it was the responsibility of Nigeria and other African countries, and not that of his country, to reverse the influx of the continent’s intellectuals and manpower to other parts of the world.

Obama stated this while addressing young Africans at the 2015 Young African Leaders’ Town Hall with President Obama at the White House, which was viewed live at the US Consulate in Lagos.

The town hall is part of the Presidential Summit of the ongoing Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders.

During a question and answer session, the US President was asked by a Nigerian, Mr. Olusola Owonikoko, what America was doing to address the massive flow of intellectuals from Africa to the West.

Obama, who described the question as excellent, however, said he would rather reverse the question.

“The question is not what the United States is doing to reverse the brain drain, the question is what is your country doing to reverse the brain drain,” he said.

According to him, part of the brain drain is economic, but it also has to do with people’s assessment of ‘if I stay in my country, am I going to have the ability to succeed?’

 

[Punch]