A sense of detachment

Questions of home and away

Going to Warsaw left me in the throes of deep introspection, as I walked up the Royal Route after purchasing an umbrella to shield me from the percentage likelihood of rain that had been forecast for today.

I had just witnessed the military parade rehearsal that took place outside my hotel for the national day which would be Wednesday. There was no goose-stepping but I could have sworn that the way the arms of the macho men swung and the gait which represented taking marching orders would not have gone amiss on a supermodel’s catwalk.

I am no expert in things military and hereby apologise if the depiction of my observations comes across as insulting, I liked the marches, the martial music and very well imbibed the sense of the occasion – these were proud Polish men.

So, returning to the topic of the brain drain, at times I felt I could persuade a lot more people to leave Poland for Western Europe, but then I also felt that many are probably happy to stay in the motherland, patriotic and proud in service of their nation and probably calling those who left traitors even though the ones in Diaspora could return with wads of cash but a sense of detachment from events back home.

That sense of detachment suddenly overwhelmed me as I had a quick peek at pampered class travel to Nigeria after almost two decades.

Then I wondered what one would be doing there, how one would be received, whether it is safe to contemplate or one was just getting delusionary.

I have no answers, but seeing the Poles at home and those abroad, the Nigerian situation does become quite interesting.

As Cheta stated in a comment about the Polish brain drain; if Poland does manage to survive this hit and recover, it can be instructive for Nigeria. For now, my view is, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala sets the standard for returnees and it was not a pleasant experience after a while, unfortunately.

Should I have another look at those air fares or let indecision feed on my introspection as another decade rolls by?

tags: poland  brain drain  diaspora  polish  

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