Dabiri-Erewa, Others Urge FCT Residents To Resist ‘Japa’ Syndrome

Residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have been advised to discourage the irregular migration of youths to foreign countries also known as ‘Japa’ which is eating deep into the hearts of Nigerian youths who want to seek greener pastures outside the shores of Nigeria.

The chairperson of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa made this call yesterday at an Enlightenment Programme for Youths, Women, and Vulnerable Groups of the Dangers of Irregular Migration to Foreign Countries and Integration for Returnees, with the theme: Japa Syndrome, the Pains and Gains, organised by the FCT-Diaspora Focal Point Office.

According to her, they want the Japa syndrome to be discouraged by Nigerians because the countries are migrating to are not better than Nigeria in a lot of ways.

“We need to also tell the positive things about our country. Nigeria is not as bad as it is been portrayed, the most important thing is to work collectively to make this country better. You and I are the government. If the government plays its role, I play my role, and you play your role, then this country will shine and will be the best in the world.

“We need to encourage the young ones, particularly the youths to do the same thing. There is frustration, no doubt about it. Very frustrating in some instances, what it is like that you do not have a job for many years.

“But there are a lot of opportunities in Nigeria that we are not seeing, we should all open our eyes to those opportunities and show the younger ones those opportunities, rather than japa in an irregular and terrible way. We want the youths to be better persons in the future, not worst persons,” she said.

The FCT-Diaspora Focal Point officer, Sarah David Areo, while delivering her address, explained that the FCT Diaspora office is working in line with existing guidelines to positively engage Nigerian teeming youths and women to check the dangerous trend of illegal migration to foreign countries where they face very unhealthy living conditions and become very vulnerable to diverse dangers.

“According to the International Organization on Migration (IOM) activated Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM), over 156,778 Nigerian Returnees were recorded in 2022 only, due to the irregular nature of their migration.

“A Diaspora is a regular migrant who for whatever reason (social, economic, political, and environmental) leaves his country of origin and settles legitimately in another host country for over a year and with a sustainable means of livelihood. By this standard, there are over seventeen million (17m) Nigerian Diaspora currently residing in other host countries.

“We stand to bridge the gap through liaison with the government to ensure an aggressive sensitization and engagement of our youths, women, and vulnerable groups in gainful enterprises. This will reduce drastically, the unprecedented upsurge in illegal migration of Nigerians to foreign countries, a trend fondly referred to as “Japa Syndrome,” she said.

She further challenged FCT youths and women to dare to be different, that they should not be afraid to challenge what has become a norm in Nigerian society, urging them to take positive chances, make their tracks, and not follow the supposed well-trodden path.