Motion to curb 'Japa' trend 'dies' in the House of Reps

FIJ

The newly inaugurated House of Representatives has rejected a motion seeking to prevent emigration among Nigerians.

Members of the House unanimously voted against the motion, which was moved by Philip Agbese, an All Progressives Congress (APC) member representing Ado/Okpokwu/Ogbadibo Federal Constituency, Benue State, on Thursday.

Discussing the motion with the lawmakers, Agbese said evidence suggested that Nigerians were moving abroad in a worrisome pattern and the country needed to check the trend.

He cited a figure in a survey conducted by the African Polling Institute (API), which indicated that 69 percent of young Nigerians would prefer to leave the country for social security.

The referenced API report can be read here. Japa is an evolving word in Nigeria, used to describe relocation of Nigerians to foreign countries.

According to Agbese’s argument, 40 percent of Nigeria’s young population are leaving the country.

This development, he said, represented a bad future for the country if not restrained by a legislation, but most of the representatives voted against it.

Ganiyu Johnson, a member of the 9th House of Representatives, had sponsored a bill in April proposing to amend the Medical and Dental Practitioners Act 2004 to prevent Nigeria-trained medical personnel from leaving the country until five years post-induction.