THE BRAIN DRAIN OF AFRICAN CLERGY

By Fr. Casmir Odundo

1.0 The Notion of Brain Drain

The term brain drain is believed to have been coined by the Royal Society to describe the emigration of “scientists and technologists” to North America from post-war Europe. However, other scholars link this term to the United Kingdom where it was used to denote the influx of Indian scientist and engineers.

It originally referred to technology workers leaving a nation. However, the meaning later broadened into: “the departure of educated or professional people from one country, economic sector, or field for another, usually for better pay or living conditions”. It is therefore the large-scale emigration of a large group of individuals with technical skills or knowledge.

The converse phenomenon is “brain gain”, which occurs when there is a large-scale immigration of technically qualified persons.

Brain drain is common among developing nations, such as the former colonies of Africa, the island nations of the Caribbean, and particularly in centralized economies such as former East Germany and the Soviet Union.

1.1 Factors behind Brain Drain

Brain drain is normally determined by two aspects:

        i.            Countries

      ii.            Individuals

1.1.1 Countries

There are normally two countries at play hers: The emigrated country, i.e. the source countries and the immigrated country i.e. host country. Here the reason majorly is social environment. People opt to emigrate from their source countries probably due to one of the following reasons:

                                i.            Lack opportunities

                              ii.            Political instability or oppression

                            iii.            Economic depression

                            iv.            Health Risks

Regarding the host countries we single out the following as reason for emigration to them:

                                i.            Rich opportunities

                              ii.            Political stability

                            iii.            Freedom

                            iv.            Developed Economy

                              v.            Better Living conditions

1.1.2 Individual Reasons

Here we single out:

                                            i.            Family influence, for instance the case of overseas relatives

                                          ii.            Personal preference, for instance preference for exploring or ambition for an improved career

1.2 Demerits of Brain Drain

Brain Drain is an economic cost, since emigrants usually take with them the fraction of value of their training sponsored by the government or other organizations. Brain drain is also often associated with de-skilling of emigrants in their country of destination, while their country of emigration experiences the draining of skilled individuals.

1.3 Historic Examples of Brain Drain

Ngugi wa Thiong'o: A Kenyan Scholar who migrated to the US

The greatest historic example is that caused by Anti-Semitism in pre-WWII Europe (1933–1943). Anti-Semitic feelings and laws in Europe through the 1930s and 1940s, culminating in the Holocaust, caused the emigration of many scientists to the United States. Notable examples are:

                                 i.            Albert Einstein (emigrated permanently to the United States in 1933)

                               ii.            Sigmund Freud (He finally decided to emigrate permanently with his wife and daughter to London, England in 1938, 2 months after the Anschluss)

                             iii.            Enrico Fermi (1938; though not Jewish himself, his wife Laura was)

                             iv.            Niels Bohr (1943; his mother was Jewish)

                               v.            Theodore von Karman

                             vi.            John von Neumann and many others

1.4 Impact of Brain Drain in the World

1.4.1 Impact in Europe

Europe has been hit hard by emigration of its human resource to other continents. In 2006, over 250,000 Europeans emigrated to the United States (164,285), Australia (40,455), Canada (37,946) and New Zealand (30,262). Germany alone saw 155,290 people leave the country (though mostly to destinations within Europe). It is said that more than 500,000 Russian scientists and computer programmers have left the country since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.

 The European Union in due notice of the above fact has introduced certain incentives to counter this outflow among them being a "blue card" policy – much like the American green card – which "seeks to draw an additional 20 million workers from Asia, Africa and Latin America in the next two decades".

1.4.2 Impact in Sub-Saharan Africa

Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have been most affected by brain drain. They have lost a tremendous amount of their educated and skilled populations as a result of emigration to more developed countries, which has harmed the ability of such nations to get out of poverty. Conservatively speaking, "Brain drain has cost the African continent over $4 billion in the employment of 150,000 expatriate professionals annually." The countries mostly hit by this phenomenon are Nigeria, Kenya, and Ethiopia. Ethiopia for instance according to the United Nations Development Programme, (U.N.D.P) lost 75% of its skilled workforce between 1980 and 1991. In particular, the country produces many excellent doctors, “but there are more Ethiopian doctors in Chicago than there are in Ethiopia.”  This sad state of affairs have made many African leaders to speak out. In his 'African Renaissance' of 1998 the then South African President Thabo Mbeki called for all emigrated sons and daughters of Africa to come back home, He said:

"In our world in which the generation of new knowledge and its application to change the human condition is the engine which moves human society further away from barbarism, do we not have need to recall Africa's hundreds of thousands of intellectuals back from their places of emigration in Western Europe and North America, to rejoin those who remain still within our shores! I dream of the day when these, the African mathematicians and computer specialists in Washington and New York, the African physicists, engineers, doctors, business managers and economists, will return from London and Manchester and Paris and Brussels to add to the African pool of brain power, to enquire into and find solutions to Africa's problems and challenges, to open the African door to the world of knowledge, to elevate Africa's place within the universe of research the information of new knowledge, education and information."

It is also important to note that Mbeki’s dream of a return of emigrated sons and daughters may soon be realized as the African brain drain has begun to reverse itself. This is probably due to rapid growth and development in many African nations, and the emergence of an African middle class. Between 2001 and 2010, six of the world's ten fastest-growing economies were in Africa, and between 2011 and 2015, Africa's economic growth is expected to outpace Asia's. This, together with increased development, introduction of technologies such as fast Internet and mobile phones, a better-educated population, and the environment for business driven by new tech start-up companies has resulted in many expatriates from Africa beginning to pack their bags ready to return to their home countries, and more Africans staying at home to work.

1.6 Merits of Brain Drain

The country of origin exporting their skilled and highly educated workforce benefit from a brain gain both in terms of the increase in the labour power they possess, but also in the fact “skilled migrants leaving the country generate increased demand for higher level education amongst the population.”  Furthermore, the sending back of remittances increase economic development in the country and standard of living. Circular migration presents a number of benefits associated with brain drain. First, the economy of the origin country may not be able to take advantage of the skilled laborers, so it becomes more beneficial for the workers to migrate and send back remittances. Second, when the migrant workers return home as part of the circular pattern, they may bring with them new skills and knowledge.

1.7 Demerits of Brain Drain

Brain drain usually involves the loss of human capital i.e. skilled labour force who are vital to the development of society and the country as a whole. Again the more pressing issue skilled migrants face in contemporary society is  “double marginalisation”, where migrants are kept from integrating into their new surroundings either by society or by existing governments, and upon their return home are shunned by the community they originally migrated from due to their earlier departure. This “double marginalization” has become a common feature in contemporary society, which has in some respects reduced the amount of skilled migration occurring.

Further, the assumption that "skilled workers migrating are likely to increase remittances to the home country", is not always the case. Graeme Hugo, argues that "highly skilled workers are often able to bring immediate family with them so they are not obliged to send money back", making the brain drain highly problematic for society especially when countries invest so much on it.

2.0 BRAIN DRAIN OF AFRICAN PRIESTS

2.1 The reverse mission

For generations in Africa the term "missionary" was a synonym for ‘Mzungu’. Thousands of European Catholics left Europe for the wilds of Africa, braving heat and disease to bring the message of Christ to heathen animists. But today's missionaries are working in the opposite direction. They're native Africans who talk about healing the secular sickness of the West. And these Catholic Africans are crossing the oceans in unprecedented numbers to return the favor Western missionaries once paid them. They have a saying: `Africa has AIDS, but North America and Europe has theological AIDS,'"

 Philip Jenkins, a professor of religious studies at Penn State who studies Christianity in developing nations says:"Our continent's being devastated by one thing. Yours is being devastated by another." The growth of what scholars call "reverse mission" fits like a puzzle piece into another trend in the Western church: What was once a steady stream of young men being trained in the priesthood by American and European seminaries has slowed to a trickle. More parishes are going without priests - 3,100 in the U.S. in 2015 up from 500 in 1965. The men arriving from the developing world fill a need. According to a recent report 10% of priests in Germany now come from the developing countries.   "The Europeans came to evangelize us, and we thank them for it, now it is our turn to evangelize them. We have something to give." Said Mr. Osigwe, a major seminarian in Nigeria nearing his ordination to Catholic priesthood.

Seminaries in Africa are recruiting much more candidates than their North American and Europe counterparts. For instance  Osigwe’s seminary, St. Bigard’s  Memorial Seminary in Nigeria  is  the largest Catholic seminary in the world, enrolling more than 1,000 young men. In contrast the   Diocese of Dallas' Holy Trinity Seminary in Texas has its enrolment at 30 in the year 2015. This is by no means unusual for an American seminary. Young men in America, for whatever reasons, largely don't want to be priests any more. According to church statistics, the number of Catholics in America increased 29 percent during the papacy of John Paul II. But the number of priests dropped 26 percent. And a large number of the priests who remain are elderly, or baby boomers edging closer to retirement. "If the trends continue this way, it's obvious that the numbers will not meet up with the demand," said the Rev. Michael Duca, Holy Trinity's rector.---Church officials say there are three basic ways the priest shortage is being met.

                                i.            One is a reorganization of priestly duties - allowing laypeople to take over some of the duties traditionally assigned to priests, like church administration and certain ceremonial roles.

                              ii.            Grouping up parishes or churches into a family of churches

                            iii.            The other solution is importing priests from overseas.

It is the third option that is already at play with already about one of every six priests working in America today is foreign-born, a number that is steadily increasing. Most of these are fished from developing countries like Vietnam, the Philippines, India, Colombia and African countries especially Nigeria.

2.2 Why Africa Has More Vocations

This is a question that most sociologists of religion, religious leaders really differ about. For most Africans, they feel that Africa has many vocations doe to their ‘notorious religiousness’  as the Theologian John Mbiti put it. This is well captured by Rev. Fr. John Okoye, Bigard's rector: "We in Nigeria are naturally religious, the instinct is in our blood. We have a reverence of the unknown."

Others trace this phenomenon to historical reasons. According to them, African Traditional religious leaders were held in high regard before the Christian missionaries came, and that status transferred easily to priests when the population converted.

However, many contend that it might be the economic advantages that take some to priesthood. Rev. Damian Nwankwo, a professor at Bigard says "When the Irish came, they brought roads, electricity, schools, and people regarded them as visible gods.---When a young man is ordained in Igboland, it is tradition that his village collects money from its residents and buys him a car - an enormous gift in a poor nation. Priests can afford luxuries, like satellite television, that other Nigerians only dream of.”  This fact is also alluded to by a future priest, seminarian Tony Ezekwu, he says: "When you are a priest, you don't lack, they have a high standard of living. People want that."The promise of status no doubt attracts some to the priesthood. "What is their motivation for joining the priesthood?" Asks Dean Hoge, a sociology professor at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.. "In the best and most noble case, they want to serve Jesus Christ. But maybe they also want to escape the farm. I'm sure both of those are there."

It is also noted that some young men see seminary more as a path to an education. Their view is summed up in the comment of a young Bigard seminarian who said he was willing to be a parish priest when he's ordained in a few months, "but what I really want to be is a professor."And while many priests go to America and Europe because they believe they can do good work, others come for more prosaic reasons.

 2.3 Clerical Brain Drain

If it is true that some young men join priesthood for economic reasons, then it is also true that the reason why most of them want to go to the United States and Europe is purely economic. Dean Hoge, estimates that an African’s priest's buying power increases five fold when he lands in America. He links the emigration of African priests to America with desire for wealth. He argues that if you consider the numbers, Africa needs by far more priests than America. He says:

“For as bad as the priest shortage is in America, it's far worse in many emerging countries with an exploding Catholic population - including some that are shipping priests right and left to the States. Even with its drop in ordinations, the United States had one priest for every 1,375 Catholics in 2002. There was one for every 4,694 African Catholics. That's not news to priests in Nigeria.”

That the African church is in need of human resource in terms of priests is evident. "We have almost 10,000 men and women and children in this parish," said the Rev. Humphrey Ani of St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Enugu, Nigeria. "There's no way we can minister to them all. We need more priests, too."  In the United States, in many other places in Nothern America and in Europe rarely do you find, despite the shortage of priests, many Christians going without Mass. However, the case is different in Africa even with its seeming booming vocations. There are many parishes with over 20 other churches (outstations) with merely one or two priests. Very Many African Catholics go without the obligatory Sunday Mass.  While Europe and America are witnessing a decline in clergy, many African dioceses are also witnessing the same, and in places where they are many vocations, such are still not enough to serve the rapidly growing numbers of her christians. Again, it is not completely true that there are no vocations in North America or Europe. Recently, in May 2019, the diocese of Kakamega in Kenya ordained 12 new priests, 11 of whom are diocesan. A great harvest of priests indeed. But the Archdiocese of Washington, in the United States  also ordained 10 new diocesan priests a week ago.  The Archdiocese of Boston in the United States on May 19th 2019 ordained 13 new priests. These factors make one question the great emigration of African priests to these foreign countries. Why are  we "exporting"  our priests yet we are also in dire need? 

But the exodus continues, perhaps, primarily for financial reasons, according to Hoge.  The following could be the reasons behind the financial emigration.

                                i.            Individual priest’s desire for individual financial gain

                              ii.            Poor countries inability to support the same number of priests as rich ones

                            iii.            Better organization of Catholics in rich countries are better organized which do a better job of pressuring church leadership to hire more priests.

The Holy See, i.e. Vatican also seems to have  acknowledged some of these issues. In 2001, Cardinal Jozef Tomko, head of the church's Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, (Propaganda Fide) wrote that the church must "counteract the prevalent trend of a certain number of diocesan priests who ... want to leave their own country and reside in Europe or North America, often with the intention of further studies or for other reasons that are not actually missionary." Cardinal Tomko said some African and Asian dioceses were sending most of their priests to work abroad, in part because they could not be supported financially in their native countries. He warned that Western nations (dioceses) "must never deprive young churches of these priests. ... It is a matter of fairness and of ecclesial sense."

2.4 Challenges

 In praise of African Priests working in the United States Christopher Malloy, an assistant professor of theology at the University of Dallas  concluded: "The African church is in touch with the raw elements of humanity: birth, marriage, death, hunger, thirst, For me, in a comfortable house, it's easy to think life is not dramatic. They bring the message to us with excitement."

But that message does not always translate easily. The Africa Priests emigrants have many problems. The first difficulties is gaining entry to America and European countries. Tighter immigration standards after Sept. 11, 2001, have made it more difficult for some priests to get visas.

Another difficulty comes during screening; it's a struggle for American dioceses to check into a foreign priest's background - a high priority for many church leaders in the wake of accusations of priestly misconduct. "I need to make sure he's the right person, and that can be difficult from so far away," said Father Josef Vollmer-Konig, director of vocations for the Dallas Diocese. He said his diocese gets one or two requests each month from Nigerian priests wishing to work in the Dallas area, few of which are granted. Another difficulty is that in some places White parishioners may be uncomfortable with an African priest. Some priests also have trouble fighting through the accents and "Americans aren't very tolerant of these things," according to Hoge. Another difficulty is that some of these African priests have trouble adjusting to the less exalted status American priests have - both in society and in their churches, where U.S. lay leaders often take on decision-making roles reserved for clergy in other countries.

However, the biggest adjustments are often ceremonial. African Masses feature hours of singing, swaying and dancing. Western masses are, well, dull in comparison. "When I came here, I asked: If I was a layperson, would I be going to church at all?" said the Rev. Ernest Munachi Ezeogu, a Nigerian-born priest who now works in Toronto. "The answer was no. There is no life, no joy. People come to fulfill a duty, not because they want to celebrate Christ." Father Ezeogu has tried changing things a bit: adding music, adding jokes to his homilies, trying to relate Scripture more directly to people's lives. He's also started a Web site where priests who want livelier homilies can download some of his. He said the reaction has been positive. But not every African priest has had such luck. The Rev. Joseph Offor, a parish priest in Enugu, did missionary work for several years in Germany. Once, he said, a woman approached him before Mass and asked how long his sermon would be. "She said I should keep it to under four minutes." (Africans are accustomed to homilies lasting an hour or more.) "I ended up speaking for about 15 minutes," he said. "She was very annoyed afterward. She said she would not come back, and she did not. It is a very different world there."

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

ALLEN, Jnr, John, “Foreign Priests and the risk of Plunder,” in The National Catholic Reporter, Feb 26, 2010.

BENTON, Joshua, “African Priests want to fill need-if Americans let them,” in The Dallas Morning News, January 31^st 2004.

BOERI, Tito, Herbert Brücker, Frédéric Docquier, and Hillel Rapoport (eds) Brain Drain and Brain Gain: The Global Competition to Attract High-Skilled Migrants, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.

KAPUR, Devesh; McHale, John. “Give Us Your Best and Brightest” The Global Hunt for Talent and Its Impact on the Developing World: Center for Global Development: Publications". Cgdev.org. 2005.

CHRISTIANO, Kevin J., et al., Sociology of Religion: Contemporary Developments, Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2008.

STRAUBHAAR, Thomas "‘International Mobility of the Highly Skilled: Brain Gain, Brain Drain or Brain Exchange". HWWA Discussion Paper 88: 1–23, 2008.

Compiled by Rev. Fr. Casmir Odundo, Parochial Vicar, St. Veronica, Keringet Parish, Diocese of Nakuru

casmirthomas28@gmail.com