Key Points

• Migration of Nigerian scientists is accelerating.

• Research capacity faces growing pressure.

• Innovation and development risks are rising.

The Nigerian Academy of Science is sounding the alarm about the growing number of Nigerian scientists who are leaving the country. They say that losing researchers at a steady rate could hurt the country’s future in research and development. The Nigerian Academy of Science said that this trend is no longer just affecting health workers; it is now affecting the entire science and technology ecosystem.

During an interview in Abuja, Oladoyin Odubanjo, the academy’s executive secretary, said that the movement of researchers abroad was a “quiet crisis.” He said that medical professionals often lead public debate, but a lot of scientists are leaving their jobs in labs, universities, and research institutes.

Scientists leaving Nigeria hurts research capacity

Odubanjo said that the migration of Nigerian scientists is a direct threat to research output. He stressed that science needs strong collaboration between older and younger researchers. As experienced people leave, there are fewer mentors and projects lose their flow.

He said that many young scientists are looking for clearer career paths, better funding, and stable infrastructure in other countries. He says that other countries are actively taking in this talent, which means that Nigeria has fewer people working in important research areas.

The migration of Nigerian scientists stops the flow of new ideas

The academy said that the move of Nigerian scientists is already having an effect on innovation in fields like health, agriculture, and technology. The country can’t do field research, gather data, or respond to national problems as well as it could if there were more experts in the area.

Odubanjo said that when researchers leave, it is hard for institutions to keep long-term projects going. Delays in fieldwork and studies that are never finished make evidence-based policymaking less effective and slow down the process of turning research into real-world solutions.

Funding changes give us some hope

The academy said they were cautiously hopeful that recent changes to policy could help make things more stable, even though they were having problems. Odubanjo talked about changes that made it easier to get research grants by easing rules related to the Treasury Single Account.

He said that delays in getting funds approved often stopped the purchase of reagents, equipment, and travel for fieldwork, especially when decisions were made in Abuja. He went on to say that these problems made it harder for people to be productive and made researchers think about going abroad for work.

The academy thinks that Nigeria’s research ecosystem could slowly get better if it has better access to funding, clearer rules, and better ways to keep researchers. Odubanjo said that long-term reforms would be very important for rebuilding trust and making sure that scientists see a future in the country.