WHO STAYS WHEN EVERYONE LEAVES?

Leaving Nigeria can make perfect sense. Of course, we all dream of leaving one day. But for what? Is it simply a mentality that has been built into us? “Yes, I want to leave. You want to leave. We all want to leave.” Better opportunities, better pay, safety, and a more predictable future are what we see elsewhere than in our country. Oh, Nigeria, the greatest! These are legitimate reasons for considering building a life somewhere else. I understand why many young Nigerians want to leave. But there is another question we sometimes avoid: What happens to the country when everyone who can leave eventually does? As a child, I always dreamed of leaving and starting life in other countries because I thought my dreams and passion would be killed and thrown down the drain. But I guess not — it was all a mentality inherited from those before us. If the opportunity to leave were available to everyone, would we all go? Would we go to countries with their own problems, countries with even more issues than ours, searching for opportunities we passed by and left in ours? What becomes of our motherland after? Of course, it will not crumble. It hasn't for ages, even before it was named "Nigeria". Patriotism should not mean pretending Nigeria's problems do not exist. Young Nigerians did not create many of the problems we inherited, and it would be unfair to demand that an entire generation sacrifice its future for mistakes it did not make. Yet a country cannot be transformed entirely by people who have left it. If every doctor, engineer, entrepreneur, teacher, and skilled graduate who becomes frustrated chooses to build somewhere else, Nigeria loses more than individuals. It loses knowledge, creativity, taxes, businesses, and the very people who could have helped create better institutions. That does not mean everyone must stay. People have individual responsibilities to themselves and their families. There are dreams that sometimes cannot be fulfilled in this country. Sometimes, leaving is necessary. But perhaps patriotism is not simply about staying or leaving. Perhaps it is about what we do with the opportunities we have. If someone leaves and later invests in Nigeria, employs Nigerians, builds a business, shares knowledge, or returns to contribute, their departure does not have to be the end of their relationship with the country. The uncomfortable truth is that Nigeria needs people who leave and people who stay. The bigger question is whether we can create a country where leaving is a choice rather than the only option people can imagine. Because wherever we go, however far we travel, and whatever opportunities we find elsewhere, perhaps Nigeria will always remain a part of our hearts.

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