THIS is 2023, and japa is still trending everywhere. Japa, a Yoruba word which means to leave for greener pastures, is still consistently running errands in the frustrated minds of Nigerian youths. Just last week, another batch of close friends left the shores of Nigeria to Brampton in Canada. They left because they could no longer bear the same issues we have always fussed about. The same issues of absolute neglect and an oppressive government versus it vulnerable citizens. Same issues that gave them the japa answer. Pathetically, the Nigerian japa situation is getting worse: a recent survey from the Nigeria Social Cohesion Survey revealed that seven out of ten Nigerians are willing to relocate to other countries for various reasons, with a good number of them recording success. Today, there is still the increasing urge to leave Nigeria by the old and the young, who see “any diaspora opportunity” as their most promising chance. Now, the current net Nigeria migration rate is -0.273 per 1000 population, indicating that more people are emigrating from the country than those immigrating. It’s depressing that Nigeria is currently sinking deep in brain drain, and it probably needs a call of emergency.
Last month, my senior banker friend, Moyosoreoluwa, told me how the Nigerian banking industries had been facing mass resignation of staff, which has been affecting service delivery. She lamented how this had been slowing down banking processes, most especially in her bank, leaving many people frustrated as it affects important transactions. Also, recall that sometimes last year, the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors revealed that about 50 percent of Nigerian doctors had already found their way out of the country. The University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, also corroborated the fact that more than 600 of its clinical workers have resigned their appointments, while just some days ago, the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) also revealed that more than 150 nurses resigned their appointments with the tertiary hospital.
Today, it is disheartening that most of our friends who japa are mostly the highly skilled individuals with useable talents across different industries. I can’t agree less as my friends, Olayode and Ola, are unapologetically brilliant minds who left the county for the better pastures. In July 2022, the Association of Nigerian Students in Europe revealed that Europe alone had more than three million Nigerians enrolled in different educational institutions. A survey also states that 89.87% of Nigerian youth prefer to study in a university outside the country. 73 percent of all Nigerians, 60 percent of doctors, and 89.87 percent of students want to japa! They want to flee the country. Tell me, what are they really seeing that the government is not seeing?
First, Nigerian youth are frustrated with the socio-economic challenges fueled by unfulfilled government promises and bad leadership marked by absence of transparency and accountability. Politicians siphon the scarce resources that could improve infrastructure, bolster education systems and strengthen public health. In 2022, the unemployment rate in Nigeria was estimated to reach 33 percent in 2023. This figure was projected to 32.5 percent in the preceding year. Chronological data show that the unemployment rate in Nigeria rose constantly in the past years. Nigeria’s youth population eligible to work is about 40 million out of which only 14.7 million are fully employed and another 11.2 million are unemployed. Also, Nigerian youth are completely out of the picture. Rather than being empowered,t hey have been reduced to a bunch of frustrated citizens with many of them becoming political thugs and agents of destruction in the hands of the enemies of the country, and while the children of these politicians study in Harvard and graduate on schedule, the youth of the Nigerian UNILAG are taking ages to graduate due to incessant strikes and worrisome teaching aids.
Yes, Nigerian youth aren’t frustrated because President Muhammadu Buhari failed to create his three million jobs per year. They aren’t frustrated because Buhari called them lazy, Nigerian youth are frustrated because of the basic issues. They are frustrated at the lack of basic amenities, lack of electricity, bad roads, and the distorted academic calendar that springs up every year. They are frustrated about the lack of an enabling environment for good business. They are so frustrated that they cannot even live without constantly walking on landmines. So, tell me why they won’t leave when they see that the level of insecurity in Nigeria has continued to worsen over the years? Before, it used to be only the Boko Haram insurgency, but now herdsmen’s crisis, aggressive kidnap attacks by known and unknown gunmen, and the unnecessary bloodshed in the country are provoking signals. Now, who will really want to stay behind? Who?
The country is dangerous for its dwellers, as it can be invaded by anyone and lives will be taken, massacre and blood bath will almost always ensue. Worse still, the perpetrators are never really brought to book which is more than enough reason for anyone to leave this country. For emphasis, the economy. That “thing” has been stagnant for years. Inflation is consistently unpredictable, a litre of fuel for N350. A dollar to naira is almost N700? Shall we talk of food? The only food we gulp in excess is food for thought. Even for business, we experience harsh economic policies to questionable government and bank policies and the unsustainable cost of doing business. Shall we talk of cryptocurrencies? Right now, I do not think that the Nigerian government will ever come to a realisation of how the services of these japa Nigerians could have a rebound effect. What happens to the quality of health of the citizens? Who and what are replacing the services of the relocated nurses and doctors? Our good heads are forsaking the Nigerian dream on a daily basis; they are watching out and grabbing opportunities in greener pastures.
When 73 percent of the entire population want to leave the country, what would this translate into logically? Like my friends who just left, the “fervour in the soul of my heart” also demands to leave the country for better opportunities, as soon as the doors are opened. Just some days ago, the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) projected the unemployment rate in Nigeria to rise to 37 percent in 2023 while in the same positive vein, the United Kingdom is offering to pay an annual salary of over N15 million to Nigerians who are willing to migrate there and work as teachers. Tell me who will we stay to starve? It’s a Peckham call.
Finally, maybe we should no longer cast aspersions on our leaders for neglecting our Nigerian dreams, maybe the Nigerian dream was fanstasy fueled by our old nationalist, yes, maybe our friends in Ojuelegba and Oja Oba will forever work in the devils workshop till they dance in their birthday suits, and maybe one day our Nigerian dream will rise again, maybe not on the street of Ikorodu nor in the lagoons of Port Harcourt, maybe our ruins will rise again united in Peckham or Houston or even Brampton, maybe then, we’ll live again and see the Nigerian dreams in another man’s land. See you in Peckham!
- Ogungbile writes in via [email protected]
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