Regular users tell me that the road from Sagamu interchange to the Lagos end is usually about thirty minutes if the traffic is light and about forty-five minutes if it is heavy, which often happens at weekends. Recently, it took us – my two friends and I – almost four hours to navigate that journey and on a week day. Yet, we were among the lucky ones because we saw it build up as irresponsible drivers dashed to face ‘the other side’ at the earliest sign of a traffic inconvenience and therefore, were among the first to be ‘rescued’.

Those who set off after us – on both sides of the road – would spend a considerably longer time. The cause of this colossal loss of man-hours was not easily discernible and the situation didn’t look like a big deal until it was. What we saw was a small diversion shortly before the Sagamu interchange and a slight narrowing of the road on the expressway due to road repairs. They were nothing that thoughtful and experienced road managers could not have handled. They were nothing that thoughtful and disciplined road users could not have handled. Unfortunately, they both fell short of expectation on the day, or put more cynically, they were both true to type. The result was the chaos we witnessed. And the unquantifiable but avoidable losses commuters suffered.

I went out of my comfort zone to travel along that axis of Ogun State to honor a cherished friend who had devoted all her life to education and through sweat and blood, had founded Vine Crest College, a school which is fast becoming one of the more respectable secondary schools in the South-west. Her greatest joy in a school management career spanning several years in top private schools, has been seeing children under her care – my child inclusive -blossom into high-flying adults in life. While her greatest concern – discounting insecurity which is everyone’s worry these days – must be seeing a child with potentials drop out of school because of funds.

She frets and worries when this is about to happen. She was however, glowing on the day as she recounted the academic exploits of her graduating students many of whom did exceptionally well in the National Examinations. She didn’t fail to mention that among those who topped the class were students whose parents were indigent but were indigenous to the environment, and by implication, the school’s catchment area. And in doing that, she highlighted how a system which does not recognize wealth or class has blended students from different backgrounds while molding timid, insecure intakes into bright, confident young adults at graduation. It is an indication of what can be achieved, what gems can be mined, if the society gave every child a good, if not equal chance at life. She glowed as she mentioned those who had won scholarships to Europe for further education. The probability is that most of the graduating students, especially those from upper middle class homes, would further their education abroad. Many would not come back. That is the pattern in most elite, private secondary schools in Nigeria.

So, while she was ecstatic about the opportunities that opened up for her students – as she should be – especially those who had struggled with school fees, I could only sigh. My sigh was for Nigeria, my country, which still delights in sending her young ones to far-flung places. Not only would their young, impressionable minds easily adjust and could easily be absorbed into new environments, their brains rank among the best brains of their generation. Brains which we sorely need. Brains which would be needed in a fast evolving world. Their host countries would therefore, need them and would be very happy to absorb them despite nationalistic noises to the contrary.

Immigration is one of the mind games the Western World plays to ensure that bright young brains from Third World countries are not given their due. Our bright young ones are to these countries, oranges to be sucked and breasts to be suckled at little cost. The disconcerting part is that the Third World countries who need young, virile minds to transform their countries are the ones shipping them out and making them second class citizens in strange environments. An example is Nigeria. An analogue country run by old, desperately analogue leaders who operate a system that keeps the country’s best brains out of strategic governance. Leaders who still believe in this digital age, that oil and solid minerals are a country’s best assets.

It is unfortunate because the repercussions are legion. It starts with a country that cannot be transformed because it has failed to transform its tertiary education to meet the demands of the times. As a result, children who have the ability as well as the opportunity, including children of those who rule us, run abroad to acquire knowledge and tools that should prepare them for a fast changing world. It includes a country that cannot guaranty jobs for its young were they to come back because of its weak institutions and nepotistic culture. It continues as a country that rejoices in diaspora remittances without counting futuristic costs.

A byproduct of this leadership shortsightedness, is the situation we find ourselves where the old and infirm are left to fend for themselves in an increasingly harsh environment because their children are no longer around. This is an overhaul of the social order as we used to know it where the young are there for the old, not just financially but emotionally and physically. Being among your children and grandchildren in old age is one of the joys and benefits of aging in an African culture. That culture is being upended fast. The biggest casualty might even be those in leadership who by their policies and actions, have unwittingly carried the proverbial coal to Newcastle by shipping our brightest children, including theirs, abroad ostensibly in search of education. Too late, they will find that distance along with the culture and values those children have acquired, will become liabilities to them in old age.

•Muyiwa Adetiba is a veteran journalist and publisher. He can be reached via titbits2012@yahoo.com

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