By Funmilayo Falola (Nigeria)
Head of Global Communications, ENGIE Energy Access (Africa)
There is this maxim – you need to join in fighting the fire at your neighbour’s burning house lest your house also gets consumed in it. When the very first wave of medical teachers started moving to the West and the Middle East in the mid-80s, many did not think that was the start of an alarming brain drain in Nigeria. If we give any thought to it, it seemed like a plague that struck the medical field only. Why? Soon, young doctors and nurses joined their teachers abroad for postgraduate studies, and not all of them made the return journey home.
Unfortunately, while several waves followed that of the 80s, we failed to realise that Nigeria’s brain drain was not exclusive to one industry but about skilled professionals leaving. While the medical field still has the biggest gap created by migrating professionals, the recent wave has seen the brain drain bug cold-kiss the communications profession.
A random scan of marketing departments and communication agencies within the country will show a barrage of resignations from people moving abroad. One funny incident is a staff member who did not show up at work after closing out a campaign on Friday. When his colleagues finally reached him over WhatsApp, “I had to leave the country in a hurry”, was his reply as if he was not planning to relocate over several months. Funny story, but it is a testament to the fact that people in communications have joined the brain drain, and some are doing so with no caution.
A crippling economy, frail infrastructure, spongy security, human rights breaches, poor remuneration, and an unstable educational system are some reasons people leave. Empirical evidence shows that the trend is not ending soon. Many will be comfortable questioning the country’s leadership as the root cause of the migration epidemic, and rightly so.
But as marketing communications professionals, we must also narrow our questions down to our leaders or regulatory bodies. If communications professionals are leaving, are ARCON, MIPAN, NIMN, EXMAN, et al. aware?
If they are, what actions have they taken to salvage this and lessen its impact on the sector? How are they taking care of those who are not migrating? What are the policies in place to take care of new entrants into the industry?
Answering these questions throws up a ripple of sphinxes. The marketing communications industry depends on the knowledge, ideas, and expertise of professionals for solutions, and experiencing a massive brain drain is akin to an accident patient losing blood – chances of survival increasingly grow slim. The more we lose the best brains and hands, the greater the vacuum of professionalism in the industry.
Incidentally, as professionals leave, the growth of the industry may be stunted, an experience gap appears and thriving becomes more difficult. Within the office, marketing campaigns become truncated especially in cases where someone did not hand over properly because they had to ‘leave in a hurry’. Realistically, it takes some companies a while to recruit new talent, so the burden to steady the ship falls on the colleague who stays put (or is probably awaiting VISA approval).
Thus, if you are asking how the marketing comms industry is affected by Nigeria’s brain drain, permit me to pose a new question – How will the marketing comms industry thrive amidst another wave of brain drain?
Conventional wisdom dictates that to keep professionals, make them happy. So, while we wait for the government to do its best in fixing education and enacting economic policies that will stem inflation, we have our job cut out for us. Regulatory bodies within the sector must better the working conditions of marketing professionals, making the practice more flexible. Remember, some companies have had to accept remote working as a condition to keep some of these professionals working from their ‘newfound lands’.
Beyond the work environment and structure, salaries are a big deal. Yes, our work is largely passion driven because of the connectivity between people and brands, but going home with a sumptuous credit alert can play a part in reducing the temptation to migrate. Agencies and marketing communications departments may have to review salary budgets, and yes, the regulatory bodies can play a role in standardising pay packages. The debate here might be that all companies cannot pay the same, but providing a range could give more assurance.
It is also pertinent to improve the work tools. The more seamless or automated it is to monitor campaigns, analyse market data, and review PR sentiments among other tasks, the less the desire to japa. Invariably, this will lead to more productive work and ultimately contribute to the growth of the industry.
In the interest of long-lasting change, we hope that, as we do our bit within the sector, constituted leadership will get better and Nigeria’s economy will experience a boom again. This is the ultimate certainty for professionals to stay put and contribute to nation-building.