By Chuks Ododo
A growing body of evidence suggests that nearly seventy per cent of Nigerians living abroad left the country not by choice alone, but because the system at home failed them. Some fled economic hardship, others insecurity, unemployment, or the absence of opportunity. Many describe their move as a search for greener pastures. Yet for a large number of Nigerians in the diaspora, relocation has not brought freedom from Nigeria’s challenges. Instead, those challenges have simply crossed borders with them.
For many Nigerians abroad, leaving the country did not mean escaping responsibility. It meant carrying Nigeria on their shoulders into a new country. Financial data and lived experiences show that many diaspora Nigerians spend between thirty and forty per cent of their earnings supporting families and relatives back home. This reality means they are managing two economies at once. One is the cost of survival abroad, often in high-cost countries. The other is the daily struggle of relatives living within a system that does not provide jobs, healthcare, security, or social support.
For those in the diaspora, the phone rarely rings without expectation, not for investment, but a request for financial help. Seven out of ten calls from home are linked to economic needs. School fees, hospital bills, rent, burial costs, emergencies, and daily survival expenses are routinely transferred to those abroad. Even when one tries to resist the pressure, some demands are unavoidable. Illness, death, and basic survival leave little room for moral distance.
Over time, many Nigerians abroad have been forced to become informal welfare officers. They play the roles of doctors, nurses, social workers, funeral directors, and emergency responders. One person abroad becomes a one-stop solution for dozens at home. This burden is rarely discussed openly, yet it defines the emotional and financial reality of many diaspora households.
Ironically, many Nigerians abroad now face greater pressure than the conditions that pushed them to leave in the first place. Long working hours, rising living costs, immigration stress, and social isolation are compounded by constant financial responsibility to others. Relatives back home often see those abroad as the last hope, the solution to every crisis, and in some cases, the only source of livelihood.
This situation is not caused by greed or dependency alone. It is the ripple effect of a broken Nigerian system. When a country cannot provide basic services, families turn inward. When jobs are scarce, relatives look outward. When healthcare fails, someone abroad becomes the insurance policy. The burden placed on Nigerians in the diaspora is a direct consequence of institutional failure at home.
If Nigeria’s system were working, this pressure would reduce naturally. Functional healthcare would lower medical appeals. A stable economy would reduce daily survival requests. Jobs and social protection would restore dignity and independence to families. The diaspora would be able to support by choice, not by obligation.
This reality leads to an uncomfortable truth. Nigerians abroad cannot afford to emotionally detach from Nigeria’s condition. Turning away from the country does not protect the diaspora. It worsens the load they already carry. Every policy failure, every act of corruption, and every broken institution eventually shows up in a phone call, a bank transfer, or an emergency message.
This is why Nigerians in the diaspora must remain engaged. Engagement does not always mean politics. It can mean supporting accountability, backing credible civic initiatives, strengthening institutions, investing responsibly, mentoring young people, and demanding better governance through collective voice. Fixing Nigeria is not charity. It is self-preservation.
The diaspora is already paying the price of a broken system. Continuing to ignore Nigeria’s challenges only deepens that cost. A working Nigeria is not just a national dream. It is a relief for millions of Nigerians abroad who are silently stretched to breaking point.
Nigeria’s problems do not end at the airport. They travel. And until the system is fixed, they will continue to follow its people wherever they go.
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