The Genius We Lost: How Nigeria Bleeds Its Future

He left Nigeria because Nigeria tried to end him.

I read a story over the weekend that won’t leave my mind.

On June 14th, 2025, the U.S. Army celebrated its birthday. As part of the celebrations, several individuals were commissioned into the army. One of them was a man named Shyam Sankar.

Who is Shyam Sankar?

Shyam Sankar is the Chief Technology Officer of Palantir Technologies — a U.S.-based tech company that builds platforms for data-driven operations. Their tools are widely used in national security, finance, and healthcare. Today, Palantir is worth approximately $324.25 billion. Yes, billion — with a B. That’s more than the GDP of many countries.

And it is the CTO of this company who just joined the U.S. Army.

But what if I told you this same man could have been joining the Nigerian Army, not the U.S. Army?

Let’s hear it from him:

“My father grew up in a mud hut in Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state in India. He was the youngest of nine children and the first in his family to attend college—an education made possible only by his eight siblings pooling their wages. After graduation, he moved to Lagos, Nigeria, to build and run a pharmaceutical plant. Through ingenuity and an enterprising spirit, he became successful at a remarkably young age.

When I was 2, our life in Lagos ended violently. Five armed men broke into our home, killed our dog, pistol-whipped my father, and threatened my mother as they demanded money from the company safe. We fled Lagos with nothing, and started over in America.”

He left Nigeria because of insecurity.

He left Nigeria because of violence.

He left Nigeria because Nigeria tried to end him.

And where did his family go?

To the United States — a country that recognizes talent, celebrates it, and uses it. A country that saw what we didn’t. That gave him a second chance. That made room for him to rise.

Today, he’s at the helm of a company whose market cap, by some estimates, is bigger than the entire Nigerian economy. (For context, Nigeria's nominal GDP in 2024 stood at around $199.72 billion.)

Nigeria didn’t just lose him. We lost what he would have built. We lost what he would have taught. We lost his taxes, his investments, his children’s future.

And he is not alone.

Every week, thousands like him — some even more brilliant — are leaving this country. Our best minds. Our most educated citizens. Our most empowered talents. They are voting with their feet, and they are not coming back.

When we lose our best to other nations, we lose the right to ask why they are developed and we are not.

So I ask:

When will Nigeria stop bleeding its future?

When will we finally turn a new leaf?