‘Japa’ Threatening Healthcare For Ageing Parents, Expert Warns

The mass migration of Nigerians abroad, popularly known as “Japa,” is creating a growing healthcare challenge for families, according to an expert.

Founder and Chief Executive Officer of The White Coat, Ekwy Onyekwele, a medical laboratory scientist and healthcare strategist, said the migration of Nigerian professionals and younger people in search of better economic opportunities abroad was changing traditional family caregiving arrangements.

According to her, remittances alone may not be enough to meet the needs of ageing parents left behind in Nigeria.

She said the Nigerian family had historically served as an informal but important healthcare support system, particularly for elderly parents, saying that adult children traditionally played a direct role in caring for their parents by taking them to hospitals, accompanying them to medical appointments, monitoring their medications and sharing healthcare expenses with siblings.

While the arrangement could be informal and burdensome, Onyekwele said its greatest advantage was proximity.

“Then came Japa,” she noted.

She said while much attention had been focused on the skills Nigeria loses through migration and the financial resources Nigerians abroad send home, less attention had been paid to the healthcare implications for ageing parents left behind.

Onyekwele noted that Nigerians in the diaspora continued to make significant financial contributions to their families, citing recent World Bank analysis estimating remittances at about 12.8 per cent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product in FY2025.

However, she stressed that financial care and physical care were not the same.

According to her, although a child living abroad could transfer money to a parent within seconds, effective healthcare required more than financial resources.

“A medical check-up requires someone to notice that it is due, arrange it, accompany the parent if necessary, understand the result and act on what it means,” she said.

The healthcare strategist also drew attention to Nigeria’s emerging demographic challenge, noting that although the country remained relatively young, its elderly population was increasing in absolute numbers.

She noted that a Nigerian living abroad might know that his or her mother had hypertension or that a father was taking medication for diabetes, but might not know whether the condition was being adequately controlled.

“For instance, the child may not know whether blood pressure has remained consistently within an acceptable range, whether kidney function is changing, whether blood sugar levels are gradually increasing or whether persistent fatigue dismissed as ‘old age’ could require medical investigation,” she said.

She identified hypertension and chronic kidney disease among conditions that could remain clinically quiet for significant periods, making preventive healthcare and appropriate monitoring especially important for older people.

She also warned against framing healthcare for elderly parents as simply another financial obligation for Nigerians in the diaspora, noting that many Nigerians abroad already sent money home for school fees, rent, food, emergencies, medication and hospital bills.