As Young Nigerians Leave the Country, Community Building Suffers for It

“As young Nigerians today,” Oladipo says, “we’re missing out on the solid networks our parents had because life keeps throwing us apart. We’re trying [to keep in touch] with social media but it’s not the same.”

A cog in the creative community

In many spaces and communities across Nigeria, young creatives are constantly seeking greener pastures elsewhere, ultimately leaving subcultures they’ve helped establish. While there isn’t a shortage of ideas and inventive creative endeavors, the very apparent downside to this exodus is that many cultural spaces across the country are losing their soul or struggling to drum up enthusiasm amongst young people who may not be around long enough to keep them alive. As culture journalist Wale Oloworekende says, “A lot of the most skilled or intelligent people are leaving the country and they are being cut off from the primary sources of their inspiration. The connection is not as steeped in reality as it should be.”

Oloworekende believes that 2021 was the last best year for creative communities; first, because it was the post-pandemic years where escapism inspired a range of events, and second, because there was a lot more optimism about the country’s precarious future.

But with a failing economy and unending administrative failures, Oloworekende finds that the thrill and even the means to foster community have thinned. “Everyone is cynical and it is connected to the brain drain.”

Sustaining distant connections

While technology has democratized modes of connections, having to maintain a virtual relationship with longtime friends has been the hardest challenge for many. Damilola Eneli, whose friend group of 10 has narrowed down to five, says it’s been hard to maintain connections.

“Keeping in touch has become more challenging with different time zones and busy schedules,” she says. “Sometimes, things would be happening in my life and I’d need my best friends but we wouldn’t immediately be able to talk because it would be 3 a.m. in Canada and the one in the U.K. is at work and can’t use her phone. Sometimes I would feel so alone. It’s tough navigating these changes and realizing that the spontaneous connections we once had are now replaced by longing and planning around time zones.”

Writer Deborah Shodimu says she misses being able to be there for her friends and vice versa. “The hardest part for me is that I can’t see them physically anymore, run into their arms anymore, stop at their houses anymore. A friend who used to be a huge supporter of an initiative I started three years ago left [in February] and I’ve been attending meetings with stakeholders by myself since then. It has impacted the way I push myself; two they say is better than one,” she says.

With her partner now also out of the country, the 21-year-old says she is finding it difficult to keep their relationship long distance. For others, there is a newfound anxiety about making friends or establishing new communities. They say little things like sharing hugs in silence are no longer possible and this has had a significant impact on them.

Despite the gloomy state of things, multidisciplinary creative Nasir Ahmed tells OkayAfrica that the erosion of creatives out of the country could inspire a rebirth. “One thing I think about is that Nigeria has a large population, and as creatives emigrate, more younger [ones fill] those spaces,” he says. “As that movement continues to happen, we’ll just see a different kind of growth that might not be as linear and homogeneous, more haphazard, but still kept together by the fact that in an increasingly globalized world, spaces to commune can effectively exist on and offline.”

While optimism can be moving, almost everyone spoken to for this story said yes to plans of moving out of the country at some point, raising strong questions about the future of vibrant, youthful communities in Nigeria.