The Federal Government has expressed worry at the heightened rates of emigration of Nigerians, mostly skilled workforce.
Naija News reports that the Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Tanko Sununu, said 1.4 million citizens left the country.
Sununu stated this during validation of the 2025 policy and its Integrated Implementation Plan in Abuja on Tuesday.
The Minister assured that the government planned to reverse the trend through the National Migration Policy.
He explained that the National Migration Policy would make migration more beneficial to the country in terms of knowledge, economy and health.
Sununu, however, emphasized the role of good governance in discouraging brain drain affecting the country.
The Minister said: “As of today, the Nigerian Population Commission will agree with me that over 1.4 million Nigerians emigrated outside and a lot of them are highly skilled.
“Fifty one percent of the migrants that leave Nigeria have knowledge of tertiary level of education and most of them are also health workers. This is causing a brain drain in Nigeria.
“With the right policies in place and the right information, the issue of brain drain can be addressed, and we would, in turn, improve our skill, improve and promote brain circulation within the country.
“The revised National Migration Policy seeks to strengthen institutional coherence, mainstream international best practices, and reinforce national ownership of migration governance.
“The policy would make migration more beneficial to Nigerians, improve the rights of migrants and also derive much benefit to Nigeria in terms of knowledge, economy, health and others.
“The policy has been addressed in such a way that it has provided a lot of knowledge . With the knowledge embedded in the policy, Nigerians would know the dangers of irregular migration.
“We also have to get the commitment of security agents and work with them because the issue of irregular migration is connected with insecurity witnessed in some parts of the country.”
