The Mass Media, Migration Issues, and the Brain Drain Nexus: Implications for Political Development in 21st Century Nigeria

Introduction

The free movement of persons from one location, country or region has since been considered a natural phenomenon, especially when it concerns tourists seeking adventure and the opportunity to widen their horizons and knowledge of cultures and peoples of distant lands, with a view to learning about the diverse cultural heritages on planet earth. This opinion begins to differ when the motivating factors for moving or migrating to other countries are orchestrated by certain push/pull factors that influence individuals – those concerned directly or indirectly with the migratory behaviour of seeking out other viable lands and economies with better capacities to provide for the livelihood of their immediate and extended family members – to move in search of greener pastures in more developed countries of the world. The consequences of this kind of temporal or permanent migration to other countries, studies reveal (Adetayo, 2010; Francis, 2016; Osazuwa, 2017; Okonkwo, 2018), can be very inimical to both the economic and political development of the host nation from where highly skilled and professional classes of persons are compelled to relocate to in search for more viable and promising means for sustenance, the kind their host country could not readily provide for them. The poor representation of this inimical migratory trends by most media houses (Wogu, Misra, Roland-Otaru, Udoh and Awogu-Maduagwu, 2019) infer have in no small measure, aided and abated this migratory trend. Hence, the need for this study which is poised to investigate the role and influence of these factors that seem to promote the menace of brain drain amongst the medical and other skilled professionals in Nigeria.