Voice of Emancipation: The Japa Syndrome

By Kayode Emola

The news coming out from folks in Nigeria is that the country’s economic situation is very bad and to be honest I would say the situation is very dire. For a country that had so much hopes and aspirations for its theming population in the 1960s when it gained independence from Britain, one would expect that Nigeria would have been a world player in the 21st century.

However, what the country offers to many of its population currently is worse than misery. Many of the youth and even the elderly are more disillusioned now about the prospect of the country that anywhere is better than home.

This situation is forcing many youths to emigrate out of the country with no intention of returning home anytime soon. For a country the size of Nigeria that is the sixth largest country of world in terms of population, this should indeed be a worrying sign for its leaders and the international community.

There is no doubt that this phenomenon is unsustainable for the country itself as the major assets (human resources) of the nation are leaving in droves. Leaders in Nigeria from the Presidency to the ward councillors have not realised that they need to invest in the citizens. If they are not encouraged to stay and develop the nation, then there may be no country to govern in the nearest future.

The situation in Nigeria gives those of us clamouring for self-determination the opportunity to enlighten our folks at home and abroad about the dangers of neglecting our fatherland. We know the economic situation in Nigeria is not going to get better no matter who is president if we continue to run Nigeria under a unitary government. This is not an assumption as it is a statement of fact. The British government that amalgamated the country even said so in the amalgamation document. That is why upon amalgamation in 1914, the North and South had different administration.

This was also reinforced in the independence document from all the conferences that was held both in Nigeria and in the UK. However, little attention was paid to the matter by the pioneers of independence. They didn’t care what the consequences of a multipolar country like Nigeria would have on its citizens who didn’t see themselves as equals or have hereditary affinity.

The pioneers of Nigeria’s independence were only after one thing and that was to be the new overlords of their people. This eventually did not turn out well for the people as we are well worse off now than we were in the 1960s judging by all metrics of development.

This is now forcing a lot of people out of the country with no hope of ever returning home in the new craze called ‘japa’. For those who do not understand the meaning of japa, it is to escape a trap or a bubble and be set free.

Many people see travelling out of the country as a means of escape, however, starting out in a new country could be very challenging if not properly thought out. A lot of Nigerians are paying through their noses just to obtain a visa to run out of the country only to find out that the grass is not green on the other side. Many do not care where they end up provided, they are out of Nigeria thereby putting themselves and sometimes their loved ones in harm’s way.

Nigerians are not used to planning for a journey or a major project, we are used to jumping first and planning later. More like the shoot first and ask questions later approach and this is causing a lot of people immense stress when they find themselves in a new environment.

Most people who have found themselves in advanced countries like the UK are struggling to survive let alone those that are stranded in the desert. Many are promised the opportunity of a lifetime only to discover that the promise of a dream is now a mirage when reality dawn on them.

The irony is that although the UK and many other advance countries offers the hope and opportunity of a lifetime, adequate preparation is needed for someone to survive the harsh realities a newcomer will face upon arrival.

Many people paying for skilled worker visa to the UK with the hope of finding a better job and improving their lives have now been stranded without job and begging for food to survive. It shows that if we fail to build our home, we cannot expect foreigners to come build it for us. The onus is on all of us to see that there is a big problem first and that is when we can find a solution.

If we don’t see that there is a fundamental problem, then we will all continue in this fundamental madness and hope for a change that will never come. Majority of us do not have this sense of community as we only think of ourselves and our immediate family’s welfare.

If only we all cared about the welfare of every individual in the country as though we are one big family, life would have been much easier, and we would have built a stronger nation. As it appears, it seems as though we have wasted over 60 years of independence retrogressing, and it would be madness to continue in this trajectory for the next 60 years with little or no hope for the future.

In so far as Nigeria is unworkable for most of the people, the best thing that can happen to Nigeria is for a total dissolution of the country. No amount of patchwork can fix the country in its current state of decadence and comatose. Any economic reform is sure going to continue to harm the country and further impoverish the people rather than improve their lives.

As Nigeria is not working, plodding on as though it will fix itself is going to cost everyone of us dearly one way or another if we don’t change course. The only workable solution is for Nigeria to dissolve peacefully so that every nation within Nigeria can determine their own future and how they want to be governed. Anything short of this will mean that sooner rather than later, Nigerians living abroad will one day be more than those living within the country due to forced emigration.