For 31-year-old Kemi Adetola, what began as a dream scholarship to study Biomedical Sciences in the UK ended in a new life she never planned. “I wanted to return and work at LUTH,” she told Sunday Punch, “but after my PhD, there were no research labs, job offers, nothing.” Kemi is just one of the thousands of Nigerians who never returned after studying abroad on government-funded scholarships.
According to the Minister of Education, Mr. Tunji Alausa, this national crisis is hiding in plain sight. “Eighty-five per cent of students we send abroad do not come back,” he revealed last week during a stakeholder engagement in Lagos. “Many courses they study can be offered here in Nigeria.”
The Federal Government has now made a bold policy shift: fewer scholarships abroad and more investment in local institutions. Twenty-eight Centres of Excellence have been established nationwide to improve postgraduate education, research, and job creation. “We want to build our capacity. We want Nigerians to stay and help Nigeria,” Alausa added.
But what is the real cost of this silent exodus?
Education experts say, It’s more than money. It is a massive brain drain,” said Professor Tunde Akinyemi, a lecturer at the University of Ibadan. “We lose our best minds- people trained at public expense – only for them to build another country’s future.”
Akinyemi recalls three of his former students who won TETFund-backed scholarships. “Only one came back,” he said. “The rest got jobs in Canada and stayed. Furthermore, who can blame them? They want a future, but our system cannot absorb them.”
Financially, the numbers are just as painful. A senior official from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), who requested anonymity, explained that sending one postgraduate student abroad costs between ₦15 million and ₦25 million annually. Multiply that by hundreds of students each year, and the bill amounts to billions. “That is money that could be used to equip laboratories, fund research, and pay lecturers,” the official said.
Students, however, see it differently.
Chukwuma Opara, a postgraduate student at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), said the desire to leave is often a matter of survival. “It is not just about the degree,” he explained. “It is about getting a power supply, decent accommodation, and a chance to be taken seriously as a young scholar.”
Still, the new policy is a wake-up call. Sonny Echono, TETFund’s Executive Secretary, said the focus now is performance. “We are shifting to a more sustainable model. Local institutions must step up. We will no longer reward inefficiency or mediocrity.”
While critics warn that shutting the door on foreign scholarships could limit global exposure, many agree it is time for Nigeria to face the music. “We cannot keep pouring water into a leaking basket,” said Dr Oby Eze, an education policy analyst. “We must fix the basket first.”
As the new policy rolls out, the challenge will be keeping the promise: turning Nigeria’s ivory towers into true centres of excellence—where the best no longer need to leave to thrive.
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