Jápa: Are Nigerians resilient enough?
Mass emigration of Nigerians to the Global North is a trend that continues to generate conversations by the general public. What's happening to a people famously known for their resilience?
If you monitored Twitter trends in Nigeria, you would notice that one of the topics that consistently pop up these days, at least two-three days per week, is jápa. Week in and week out, young Nigerians share either their stories of jápa or those of their family and friends. Jápa is like a bug that has infected the youthful populace.
Jápa is a Yoruba word that literarily means to hurriedly leave a place. I wrote a post on this trend on 23 September titled: The Great Resignation and the Great 'Jápa'. I explained how jápa has become synonymous with the mass outflux of many Nigerians from their country to the Global North – mostly the continents of Europe and North America.
Many Nigerians who have left or planning to leave had good careers back home, but they lost faith in the system due to worsening insecurity, corruption, bad governance, weakening economy, police brutality, poor infrastructure and others. I quoted a report published by the Africa Polling Institute in 2021 in which 70 per cent of Nigerians were willing to leave their country if given the opportunity. Two years earlier, only 30 per cent wanted to leave.
If someone was being continually abused by their partner in a relationship, would you advise them to stay put because they needed to prove they are resilient?
Nigerians are famously known to be resilient, having the ability not to be moved by the frustrations that beleaguer them. Even when they are moved, they bounce back before long. They smile amidst hardship and even pray for their leaders who put them in a despicable situation. The citizens themselves brag about being tough and their leaders usually hail them and urge them to continue to “hold on,” that all will be well, that Rome was not built in a day, that the United States and other countries they are relocating to also had their challenges in the past, and so they have to keep enduring back home.
Funnily enough, these same leaders would cough and the next thing you would hear is that they had been flown abroad for treatment – all-expenses paid trips by either the taxpayers or by diverting millions of naira probably meant to build a hospital.
The shift
Now, it seems the days are long gone when Nigerians clung to decade-long promises of hope. Hope has gradually turned into a mirage. Citizens are dying every day, insecurity is on the rise, inflation has made many poor and the standard of living is depreciating.
And so more than ever before, Nigerians are quitting their beloved and unbeloved jobs, selling off their properties and borrowing money to leave the country to places where they perceive to have better working and living conditions.
Some excited citizens who have gotten the visas of the countries they are emigrating to are even throwing parties for their loved ones before they finally leave Nigeria. They call it the “jápa party.”
What happened to Nigerians’ resilience?
This is a question that many are asking. Why are Nigerians moving out of their country en masse? Can’t they stay back to build their country? What happened to resilience?
I want to look at this in two ways.
First, if someone was being continually abused by their partner in a relationship, would you advise them to stay put because they needed to prove they are resilient? I guess you would say no. Records of cases of partners losing their lives after years of physical and emotional abuse abound all around us.
Those jápaing say Nigeria has been abusing them for a very long time and they are fed up. Actually, when you see young people wasting away because of this environment, you will tend to agree with their point of view. There is undoubtedly resilience fatigue.
I know some would quote John F Kennedy's historic words: “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.”
Great quote. And this leads me to the second way I want to look at the topic of Nigerians’ resilience amidst the daily frustrations here.
Yes, Nigerians ultimately have the responsibility of building their country. After all, angels didn’t build the economies of European and North American countries that they are emigrating to.
But anyone also familiar with the successes of these great nations of the world also knows that somehow, their citizens’ contribution to development is spurred by visionary governments and leaders providing the tools they need to succeed. No citizen there buys two or three generators to power their homes or businesses. No one there is denied access to the basic necessities of life such as food and clothing. Who wouldn’t try to think out of the box in a clime where you could at least eat and clothe yourself affordably?
I’m not saying it’s not possible to think out of the box in Nigeria. But it is pretty difficult amidst the daily frustrations experienced by the common man. Yes, we have youths building things, but when you interview them, you will be shocked at their frustrations. No doubt some of them are building things here while their bases of operation are in San Francisco or London.
My take is that Nigerians are still resilient. Ironically, jápaing is also proof of their resilience. Rather than ‘die’ here, they are doing whatever it takes to move out, survive and maybe think of building stuff back home. As it is, the ball is in the court of the government and its institutions. Do they want to continue in their old way and expect things to change?
Hmm.
And it’s a wrap for today.
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Happy weekend and see you next week.
Jesusegun