Nigeria: A Realm Of Uncelebrated Talents
Nigeria is a home to shining talents. Unfortunately, many talented Nigerians are not getting enough support from the government, which has made many talents go down the drain while the remaining ones are exported to other countries for appropriate use.
Hashim Yussuf Amao, Ibadan
The talent stream in Nigeria is ceaseless. However, the nonchalance of the Nigerian government towards shining talents has caused a mass exodus of talents from the country. An average talented Nigerian wants to travel abroad by all means, as Nigeria continues to be an infertile land for their talents.Musa
Sani, a 7-year-old boy from Kano State, went viral recently after he constructed a replica of the Kano State overhead bridge with materials he sourced locally. Thanks to Ronchess Global Resources, a US-based construction company who aided the youngster with a scholarship to the USA, a 3 bedroom apartment for his siblings, and a million naira for his mum, among other juicy rewards, his talents would have gone uncelebrated like many others'.
In the spring of August 2021, a 22-year-old graduate engineer from Utagba-Ogbe Technical College in Delta State, Ignatius Asabor arrived in Oulu, Finland after he had built a drone. Having noticed how many drones he had built, the young man from Ndokwa, Delta State was rewarded with an offer to work with Radai Limited, a Finland-based company that specializes in drone-based environmental and geophysical measurement services. When interviewed, "How do you feel when talents like yours are hardly recognized in your country?" Hear Asabor, whose interest in robotics started at an early age of 9, "I feel really bad. I tried so many times and as hard as I could (to get help). I have gotten so many types of promises, but I have never received any support from the government. As a student, I showcased several street flights in public to survive and to save money for my innovations. He further added, "I was disappointed that no support came my way before the Finland-based firm employed me."
How long will talents go unappreciated in Nigeria is a question that has yet to be answered. On March 20, 2020, Billyhadiat Taofeeqoh, a young and talented Mandala Artist from Ibadan, Oyo State, had an interview with BluePrint Newspaper on her journey to Mandala Designs, among other questions. Replying to how the government should support her fellow talented Mandala Artists, the Ibadan-based artist said, "A lot of people still think of art as something people do when they are bored; they just don’t get what it is." "Here, people wonder why anyone would sell or buy a piece of art for thirty thousand naira, which pretty much explains how the government has not been investing in it. The government should do better by funding, investing, and supporting events regardless of how people feel about them."
Olajide Qudus is another young and talented writer from Epe, Lagos State. He is just 20-year-old and has written four brilliant novels, all unpublished due to financial incapability. Speaking on why talented writers like him need government support, the 100L medical student at the University of Lagos said, "Nigeria is yet to utilize the full potential of its literary sector." "The writing field is getting more crowded as more writers are being produced, despite the existing ones, like me and many others out there, suffering from publishing hunger. While there are renown literary writers who have been able to inscribe their feet in the sand of time, the absence of support has left many young, talented writers behind the ball – they’d write the books and have to keep them to themselves due to financial impotency. I believe that if the government can set up a platform for creative young writers, it will not only promote the country’s economy but also help many talented writers like myself to achieve their goals."
Many talented footballers in Nigeria have had their hopes dashed because they can no longer pursue their footballing dreams due to the government's indifference to their plight. Bamgbose Abdullateef is a football coach and talent manager affiliated with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF). He’s also the CEO of Catalan Sports Limited, a football agency company. Speaking on the scads of talents that abound in Nigeria and the need for the Nigerian government to take meaningful action towards supporting them, he posited, "Nigeria is blessed with so many talents in football, but the problem is there has not been any formidable platform to showcase their talent, unlike in Europe where scouting programs help discover talents." "Also, favoritism, where coaches select their own rather than the best. The government should have better and ideal sporting facilities in all the 774 LGAs around the country. The government and private bodies should endeavor to develop our leagues to a certain standard like it happened in the advanced world. With this, more people will be attracted to our leagues. Our talents will be appreciated in this way."
"Nigeria kills talent" is a notion maintained by many Nigerians, like the Nigerian female football player, Anthonia Abisola who played for the Nigerian team, Ratels FC Abuja. In reference to the adverse effect of the Nigeria situation on her talent, the young and talented female footballer said in an interview with the Zikoko on January 19, 2021, "The thing is that I’m not ready to play for Nigerian teams." "If I see an agent that is serious about securing my future, I’ll consider leaving Ekiti (State). I’m not ready to play for Nigerian teams. I want to go to university and play football at the same time. And we both know that’s not possible in this country, so I’ve actively started looking for an athlete’s scholarship outside Nigeria. I have to leave for the sake of my talent because this country kills talent. "
It is a saddening fact that talented footballers in this country seek every possible means to leave the country. According to a recent FIFA report, Nigerian clubs sold 1,904 players in international transfers in the last decade. The report ranked Nigeria 17th in the world and first in Africa for the volume of players’ movements in the decade. The reason being the players’ search for greener pastures, as the clubs these talented players play for owe them backlogs of unpaid salaries. On January 12, 2022, Heartland players from Owerri (Imo State) took to the streets demanding that the government pay their 11-month salary. On March 30, 2021, Sunshine Stars of Akure (Ondo State) also protested unpaid six month upside salaries by the state government. Sad to state that this has been a long practice, that on September 22, 2014, Kaduna Utd players of Kaduna State also protested non-payment of their 12-month salary. When Nigeria will start appreciating her owns is a skittish scoreline no one could predict.
The entertainment talent in Nigeria is one that has been lauded over the years. In 2019, a 19-year-old Rema had his song, Iron Man, on ex-president Barack Obama’s summer play list. Love Nwatinti by CKay is currently making waves round the globe; it’s now the world’s most ‘Shazamed’ song and has been rendered in many languages. Were it not for the titular clash of singer Burna Boy’s "Ye" with Kanye West’s in 2018, most likely, he wouldn’t have been globally noticed at the time he went global. Since the clash in the titles of their songs shot the Port Harcourt-born songster to global fame, his streaming numbers have skyrocketed across streaming platforms. And just 2 years after, he went on to win the Grammy Award, being the first Nigerian to do so for a personal project. Unfortunately, there are many unheard of BurnaBoys in the Nigerian music industry.
As a result of their unmerited efforts, many unappreciated and talented Nigerians have navigated their way into bad acts like gambling, drug peddling and cybercrime. In the 2021 FBI cybercrime report, Nigeria ranked 16th in the International Cybercrime Report. Many youths who engage in fraud or other illegal practices could channel their energy into productive activities if they had received the necessary government support.
With the uptick in the number of talented citizens moving abroad for exploration, it has become imperative that the Nigerian government empower home-grown talents, lest the best brains in academic, health, technology, football, and entertainment will continue to run abroad where they gravitate towards juicy rewards.
Hashim Yussuf Amao
hashimlegalbard@gmail.com
Twitter: @LegalBard
