Thank you for attending this month’s edition of Conversations @ INDIGO where we looked at the topic: Why are you [not] moving to Canada, as a way to understand the various reasons why people are moving to Canada and other countries and to also find solutions to making Nigeria liveable for all. Here are some of the pictures and notes from the day.
If everyone is moving to Canada, who is going to build Nigeria?
Dr Femi Daniel, the October conversation leader
Indeed, Nigerians thrive everywhere they go, but there are lots of people who are also suffering in the diaspora – they gather money to move out of Nigeria only to get to their destination to face a different reality. To most of these people, coming back home is very difficult as they have nothing to fall back on when they return. Therefore, they rather stay than return home to find a lasting solution.
Moving to other countries put you in a position to impress your host – you are at deficit pushing so hard to get the approval of your host, this is the reason behind most Nigerians thriving abroad, also this is the cause of depression and struggle for many Nigerians in the diaspora. When you are where you are not supposed to be, you will work to meet up with expectations but when you are at home, comfort breeds satisfaction.
There is a system of oppression that makes it difficult for people to thrive here in Nigeria and that is the reason people want to leave. Many Nigerians are moving for reasons such as the sanity of life and great access to healthcare. Most people just want to wake up, go to work, and come home with no intention of hitting it big. Approaching the mass emigration with empathy is necessary at this point. There’s no Nigerian that doesn’t want to succeed or thrive but the environment here is not conducive for it, so we need to have empathy for those who are going through emotional and economic issues that they cannot hack.
Sometimes staying in Nigeria means peace and stability. We need to learn how to live within our means and learn to work around this system that is not working like diversifying your business – try new things. You will be stable if you have peace of mind which you cannot guarantee yourself if you move to other countries.
The only thing that makes you change your mind about the situation is hope that you will be able to achieve something better. That’s what keeps us going.
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We look forward to seeing you at the next edition of Conversations @ INDIGO in November and you can register for the next edition here
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Conversations @ INDIGO is a free monthly event organised by INDIGO, the researcher workspace, an initiative of The Sahara Centre – an organization that seeks to advance the socio-cultural dimension of sustainable development in Nigeria.
We are a research-focused organization, working to develop insights that guide evidence-based decision making. For more information about our activities, please visit www.saharacentre.org
