Japa: No One Should Be Stopped From Leaving Nigeria — Obi

Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 general election, Mr. Peter Obi has advised against discouraging anyone who desires to migrate to other countries.

The former Anambra State governor stated this on Monday at the College of Nursing Sciences of the St. Charles Borromeo Specialist Hospital, Nkpor, Onitsha when he donated the sum of N10 million to the institution.

Addressing the management and students of the institution, Obi urged the trainees to strive toward becoming highly trained medical professionals.

He told them that nursing services are highly sought after and paid for in advanced countries like Europe and United States of America.

LEADERSHIP reports that skilled medical professionals have taken to the now renowned ‘japa’ move to migrate in their numbers to foreign countries in search of better working environments and remunerations.

Japa, a jargon implying migration has seen categories of Nigerians, including students, as well as unskilled citizens troop to the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Europe and other perceived economically viable countries.

Obi described nurses as very important in healthcare delivery, saying they are more important to patients than medical doctors because of their closeness to both the patients and doctors.

The former presidential candidate said he always advised the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria not to stop any health professional who want to leave the country for overseas, arguing that the development would increase the nation’s foreign exchange earnings in view of remittance by Nigerians living overseas to the country.

“I support japa. I don’t believe in brain drain. Let people who want to leave the country leave.

“Nurses are highly looked for and paid in London and America. I have always told the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria not to stop any of their professionals from leaving the country.

“When they go there, they are highly paid, and, they will remit part of their earnings back home, and they will be good ambassadors of the country”, the former LP presidential candidate said.

He stated that he prioritised investing in education considering that knowledge, not oil drives the world.

The Co-ordinator of the Health Sciences of the Archdiocese, Rev. Fr. Dr. Basil Ekwunife who represented the Archbishop of Onitsha Ecclesiastical Province, Most Rev. Valerien Okeke, praised Obi for his contributions to education.

He stressed that it was Obi’s support when he was governor that saw the establishment of the college and many others across the state.

He prayed God to continue to provide and reward him in his efforts toward contributing to a better society.