The presidential candidate of the Young Progressives Party (YPP), Dr Peter Agada, has urged Nigerian professionals living in the United States and other parts of the diaspora to consider returning home and contributing their skills to national development.
Agada said Nigeria should treat the tightening of US immigration policies as an opportunity to attract skilled citizens back into the country, but warned that appeals for their return would achieve little without practical plans to receive, employ and retain them.
The YPP candidate made the call on Friday in a statement issued in Abuja, criticising successive Nigerian governments for failing to establish a clear framework for attracting professionals abroad back into the country.
While declining to condemn the administration of US President Donald Trump over its immigration policies, Agada argued that every sovereign nation had the right to introduce measures aimed at protecting its interests and regulating migration.
“I do not blame the US for its policy. Every country has the right to protect its system. But I blame Nigeria for not having a plan to receive its own professionals when other countries push them out,” he said.
Agada accused Nigeria of spending years celebrating the migration of its citizens, popularly known as Japa, largely because of the foreign remittances they sent home, without making corresponding investments in systems that would encourage skilled Nigerians to return.
He said the country had failed to prepare its communities, healthcare facilities and other institutions to accommodate professionals who might be forced to reconsider their stay abroad because of changing immigration rules.
The presidential candidate specifically referenced Nigerian nurses in Houston who could lose their employment authorisation documents and engineers in Chicago whose immigration status might come under review.
He asked what opportunities Nigeria had created for such professionals if they were compelled to leave their host country.
Agada urged Nigerians in the diaspora to begin planning their return, not merely to major cities such as Abuja and Lagos, but to their communities and local government areas where their expertise could make a direct difference.
“That is why I’m calling today: Nigerian professionals in cities and in diaspora, plan your return home – not to Abuja, but to your Ward,” he said.
He noted that Nigeria has 8,809 electoral wards, arguing that many communities lack resident professionals in critical fields because skilled workers continue to migrate to larger cities and foreign countries.
According to him, successive administrations have repeatedly appealed to Nigerians abroad to return without providing the essential conditions required to make such decisions sustainable.
These, he said, include decent accommodation, functional equipment, favourable working conditions, transparent remuneration and opportunities for professional development.
Agada warned that without these provisions, professionals who return home could become frustrated and leave the country again.
“Do not wait to be pushed. Plan your return now. Your Ward needs you more than America needs you. In your Ward, you are not a refugee with 10 days to defend your status,” he said.
The former Obidient coordinator said he had been following developments surrounding the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and urged Nigeria to develop a deliberate national strategy for attracting its skilled citizens.
His comments come amid a significant increase in US visa revocations under Trump’s second administration.
On October 20, 2026, the US State Department said more than 300,000 visas had been revoked since Trump returned to office in January 2025. State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said the administration had accelerated the revocation process, citing criminal activity, immigration violations, fraud and national security concerns.
The figure represented a substantial increase from the more than 175,000 visa revocations announced by the department in August 2026.
Reuters reported that the latest figure formed part of a broader immigration crackdown involving stricter screening, deportation efforts and tougher enforcement of visa conditions.
The US government has also introduced Operation PARRIS, an initiative launched by the Department of Homeland Security in January 2026 to re-examine refugee cases, beginning with thousands of refugees in Minnesota. The programme involves additional background checks, interviews and reviews of refugee claims.
However, Operation PARRIS specifically concerns refugee-status reviews and should not be confused with a blanket review of all Nigerian professionals or foreign workers in the United States.
Agada’s intervention has renewed attention on Nigeria’s persistent brain drain, particularly the migration of doctors, nurses, engineers, academics and other skilled workers seeking better opportunities abroad.
Nigeria continues to face shortages of qualified professionals in several sectors, while poor infrastructure, limited employment opportunities, inadequate remuneration and difficult working conditions remain major challenges for workers at home.
Although remittances from Nigerians abroad provide an important source of foreign exchange and household support, Agada argued that the country must move beyond depending on money sent home and create an environment where the expertise of its citizens can contribute directly to development.
His proposal places responsibility on the Nigerian government to make communities attractive to returning professionals through investment in healthcare, education, infrastructure, security and local economic opportunities.
The challenge, however, goes beyond persuading Nigerians abroad to return. It requires building an economy capable of providing the opportunities, professional support and quality of life that will encourage them to stay.
