African Development Bank (AfDB) chief Akinwumi Adesina has said that the future of Nigerian youths does not lie in Europe, North America, or any other location but in the West African country, here in the continent of Africa.
He stated this when he bagged the prestigious 2023 Obafemi Awolowo Prize for Leadership in Lagos on Wednesday.
The ex-Nigerian Minister of Agriculture expressed his concern about the widespread trend of Nigerian youths migrating, known as “Japa,” in search of better economic opportunities and job security in distant regions such as Europe, the Americas, Asia, and elsewhere.
He said, “While one might argue that our growing diaspora is good as they send back billions of dollars, higher than the oil revenue that we have, this is not the way to develop sustainably.
“Nations that develop do all they can to keep their best human capital at home and additional resource skills elsewhere, with flexible immigration and labour policies. We must make Nigeria a viable place for people to stay and not a place to run away from, the same applies to other countries.
“I refuse to believe that the future of Nigeria’s and Africa’s youths lie in Europe, North America, Asia, or anywhere else. I believe that their future must lie in Africa, growing well, robustly, able to create quality jobs and decent earnings for our young people.
“There is no reason in the world why we have a demographic asset that becomes a global negative externality. Let’s take pride in ourselves and make our demographic asset our economic asset globally.
READ MORE: Over 200 Abducted As Boko Haram Attacks Borno IDP Camps, UN Condemns Abduction
“I firmly believe that their future lies right here in Nigeria,” adding that for this reason, the AfDB launched a $614m programme to support Nigeria’s digital and creative enterprises to create 6.3 million jobs and add N6.4bn to the economy.
