‘Japa’: UK, Canada, US, China, Others Granting Nigerian Youths Visa Are Wicked – Tinubu’s Ally

A former governor of Ogun State and chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Ibikunle Amosun, has lamented the growing trend of Nigerian youths leaving the country for greener pastures.

Naija News reports that many Nigerian youths now see ‘Japa’ as the only option to escape insecurity and economic meltdown in Nigeria.

Japa is a Yoruba term that means leave or run away, and it is now used to describe the mass emigration of talented young Nigerians traveling abroad in search of greener pastures.

Speaking to BBC Yoruba, Amosun, an ally of the APC presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, described countries giving visas to Nigerians to aid their ‘Japa’ as wicked.

According to the former Governor, countries giving visas to Nigerian accountants, lawyers, and medical practitioners do not consider the effect on Nigeria.

He said, “I have heard about it, and the reports are scary. All our youths and young talents are traveling out of Nigeria, seeking greener pastures, and the prospective countries are deliberately giving them visas to leave the country without putting the origin country into consideration.

“What scares me most in all this is the proliferation of emigration. Foreigners will not fix our nation for us if all our citizens should leave the country. I am seeing the countries granting visas to our youths as wicked because they are not considering the origin nation from which their prospective labour force are coming from.

“If you ask our people leaving the nation for greener pastures, they will tell you that they are not planning to return to Nigeria.”

Amosun, however, stated that those ‘japaing’ from the country could not be blamed as Nigeria is experiencing poor economy, insecurity, and bad governance.

He said, “If you look closely at the situation, you would see that all our lawyers, accountants, and most especially medical practitioners make up the largest chunk of the people leaving the country. We cannot blame them, however; insecurity is one of the major problems pushing our people out of the country.

“You will agree with me that our people are not lazy and are always willing and ready to work diligently. Most of the migrants are forced to leave the country as a result of bad governance, an unstable economy, insecurity, and other challenges.

“I am sure Nigeria will be great again, but the reports of migration recently have been disheartening for me.”