THE JAPA SYNDROME IN NIGERIA: EXAMINING THE SOCIO-POLITICALAND ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS

Résumé

The work is a study of a disturbing phenomenon in Nigeria which sees the Nigerian youths fleeing the country for better opportunities abroad as a result of the economic malaise that has led to lack of employment opportunity, incessant industrial actions, insurgency and insecurity. The economic malaise is occasioned by bad governance - misappropriation, mismanagement, prebendalism, nepotism, ineptitude, and squandermania etc. Many Nigerians of the productive age bracket are massively leaving the shores of the country in what in Nigerian usage is known as ‘Japa’. Japa is aYoruba slang which means ‘to run away’, ‘to flee’ or ‘to escape’. This word has gained increased usage especially among the Nigerian youths to describe the trend of leaving the shores of Nigeria in search of better opportunities and better living standard abroad. Even though, the Japa syndrome is not a new thing in Nigeria, it however, came to the national consciousness with the advent of the Second Republic.