The Great Resignation and the Great 'Jápa'
What can we learn from these two life-shaping economic trends?
Sometime in early 2021, as the world was coming out of lockdowns necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic, an economic trend emerged in the United States and then started spreading to other countries in the Global North, which refers to the rich and powerful countries of the world in regions such as North America, Europe and Australia. Thousands of employees in these countries started resigning from their jobs voluntarily. Some economists described the trend as akin to a general strike. It was quite unusual.
Something major triggered this trend: the coronavirus lockdowns. During lockdowns across the world, millions of workers had to work remotely as one of the precautionary measures against the pandemic. Of course, not every worker could do their job remotely and this is why those on the frontline, especially health workers, deserve to be praised to the skies at every turn.
Back to the resignations, millions of workers around the world did it because the pandemic opened their eyes to what could be possible. It taught people that it was possible to still be productive while they lounge on their couch or bed, decked in their pyjamas while they sip or slurp their coffee or tea. It taught people that they could still deliver on their professional work even with their spouse, kid(s) and pet(s) at home. It taught people the lesson that it didn’t have to be a 9 to 5 to make things happen. That they didn’t need physical offices to hold meetings, thanks to Zoom and other cool videotelephony apps. It made people crave better work-life balance by rethinking their careers, work conditions and long-term goals. If anything, this was arguably one of the positive sides of the pandemic.
It taught people that it was possible to still be productive while they lounge on their couch or bed, decked in their pyjamas while they sip or slurp their coffee or tea.
The trend, facilitated by Millenials and Generation Z, was later dubbed the Great Resignation, a term said to be coined by Anthony Klotz, a professor of management at University College London. Other terms for Great Resignation are the Big Quit or the Great Reshuffle.
Many of the millions of workers who resigned have now opted for jobs with better work-life balance, jobs that make them great in their careers as well as afford them the opportunity of being better bonded with their families.
The Great Jápa
Move over to Nigeria. Sometimes you may think everyone is just obsessed with money, money and money. Actually, it’s sometimes hard to blame anyone who thinks this way. In many settings, the rich-but-intellectually-deficient are preferred over the intellectually-rich-but-poor. Lyrics by many an artist are all about money, sex and booze. Some preachers even tell you that being poor is a sin and that God wouldn’t forgive you if you died in poverty. (Don’t get me wrong, please. Money is a great buddy to have. It can provide you with any comfort that you desire. It can solve many problems and put smiles on your face and on those of your loved ones. I hope to be rich someday). The idea of wealth by any means is what detests me and it’s why the country has many people doing dubious things to make money. Think of internet fraud, robbery, kidnapping of people for ransom, looting of public funds, etc).
But in the same Nigeria, people with integrity also abound, people who believe in doing honest work, people who wouldn’t steal a dime even if they were hungry. I’ve met a lot of them. They would rather drive their decade-old Toyota, as long as it was bought with their hard-earned money, than buy a Mercedes-Benz with crime proceeds.
At the same time, Nigeria is witnessing a huge economic trend that is similar to the Great Resignation: the outflux of thousands of Millenials and Generation Z. These are people, just like the Great Resignees, who are dissatisfied with driving decade-old Toyotas on bad roads and taking their poor cars to the mechanic almost every week. These are Nigerians who are quitting their careers in a country with systemic frustrations, general lawlessness, and various daily trials and tribulations. These are Nigerians not willing to travel interstate anymore, even if they loved to, because while on the road, they could be attacked by bandits or robbers and kidnapped for ransom or even killed. These are Nigerians whose incomes have become so depreciated that they could no longer afford three square meals a day and other necessities of life.
So rather than living in Nigeria with vibes and Inshallah (meaning ‘If God wills’), these people came to a decision: jápa, a Yorùbá word that means to 'run hard,' or preferably, 'flee,' from something. Jápa has now become synonymous with the mass emigration from Nigeria to mostly the countries in the Global North.
These days, at least one person that you know leaves Nigeria every week. Go to the immigration offices nationwide, you’d see long queues of Nigerians applying for passports with the primary aim of emigrating. In a 2021 report published by the Africa Polling Institute, seven out of 10 Nigerians were willing to leave their country if given the opportunity. Back in 2019, only three out of 10 Nigerians wanted to leave.
According to a BBC report, in January 2022, the average waiting time for a three-minute tuberculosis X-ray at the International Organisation of Migration (IOM) centre in Lagos was 10 hours, while the waiting time at the testing centre in the capital, Abuja, was six hours. (Most countries require a medical examination for Nigerians applying for long-stay or immigration visas.)
Most people jápaing are not mediocre. Most had lucrative careers in Nigeria, most had settled down with their families. But the state of things has made them lose faith in the country and they cannot imagine continuing to live where their dreams are being shattered every day. They can’t imagine not living to their full potential or giving their children better lifestyles, presumably, if they stayed in Nigeria. Hence, they had to jápa. In the coming hours, days, weeks, months and years, many more will do so. This trend could be just like the Great Resignation. It may never end because ultimately, people will keep craving better working and living conditions, wherever they may find them.
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Jesusegun
Thanks for this powerful expository prologue. I remember when people used to be very sad whenever they're jápaing, I have "saw off" alot of family and friends traveling to abroad in the pass and we have to depart in tears 😭 but not same again lately, I was at the airport few days ago I saw families leaving their love ones with transport of delight and jubilation, people now invest thousands of dollars to travel to any available country, gone are the days when you take time to study the country you're moving to or have a second thought of investing the same money into profitable business, the other day a friend called from Lagos asking me about Togo 🇹🇬 I couldn't discouraged her from going to that country, if I do am her greatest enemy. But truth be told no where is cool as we say here, the different between the Global North is message of hope by their leaders and taking pragmatic action. I don't see the threat stopping soon. Happy jápaing😄😄😄😄