Chairman and CEO of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has called on the Federal Government to create a conducive environment to check the propensity of Nigerians emigrating to foreign countries in what has come to be known as “japa syndrome.”
Dabiri-Erewa who made the call on Monday from Paris, France, when she appeared on a Channels Television’s programme, ‘Empowering Tomorrow: A New Vision for Nigeria,’ to celebrate Nigeria’s 63rd independence anniversary, said in light of the increasing emigration rate of Nigerians, the government must do its part in providing a favourable environment for its citizens.
Dabiri-Erewa said though it was impossible to completely halt the mass exodus of Nigerians popularly referred to as Japa, she noted that with a conducive and favourable environment, the urge by Nigerians to leave the country would be curtailed.
The NIDCOM boss however, acknowledged that moving to another country had no inherent flaws, but it must have a clear goal.
“You can’t stop this migration, legal or illegal, but the question is: Why are you migrating? Are you migrating to a better place? Are you migrating to bigger dreams?” She questioned.
“Here is a quick thing, government needs to play its own role of providing a conducive environment. The Tinubu administration has talked about job creation, SMEs, digital transformation, and digital truth for our younger people, and a lot of that conversation is going on here in France.
“There is nothing wrong with migration, but migrate to a better place. Migrate to become a better person; don’t migrate to get into trouble. A lot of people we deal with are looking for jobs but they don’t get the jobs when they go abroad.
“Why are you migrating? Are you a better person by the time you migrate? But again, government must play its role and do what it has to do,” she queried.