Published 8th Sep, 2022

By Adebola Adewara

Adonye was coming from a date with his newly-wedded wife when he was rudely intercepted by policemen along Oworonshoki road, Lagos, on a Friday night.

The policemen stopped his car and questioned him on the dark and lonely road for close to 30 minutes without giving him a tangible reason for stopping him in the first place.

The 30-year-old had to put up a fake smile for the policemen, even when they were making crude remarks at him, because they appeared drunk and were holding rifles.

“Small boy like you dey drive this kind motor. I’m sure you are a yahoo boy. Better don’t use this fine girl do money. When girls of nowadays sef will not stay in one place; they will be following people with cars,” they said.

“Better do normal before we arrest you and take you to the station for armed robbery.“

Adonye patiently complied with all their demands because it was late. He even gave them a parting gift of N5,000.

Even though he earned an above-average salary as an auditor in one of the leading corporations in Nigeria, Adonye saw the slightly traumatic event as another sign that his dear country was broken.

“The Nigerian dream in me had died long ago since 2020. That night just reinforced it,” he said.

Like many other Nigerians, Adonye decided it was time to japa (a word in the Yoruba Language that means ‘flee’).

After a year of processing his visa, he moved with his wife to the United Kingdom, where he has now been living for three months.

THE YOUNG STOWAWAY

On September 4, Rasheed Mufutau, a 14-year-old boy, was found unconscious in the wheel of a packed United Nigeria Airline (UNA) aircraft in the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, after a desperate move to flee the country.

“I was tired of the country and I just wanted to travel out,” Mufutau said.

This desperate act by this young boy shows the dire state the country is and how far some Nigerians can go to leave the country.

Nigerians, rich and poor, have migrated to greener pastures for decades, and more middle-class citizens and young people are leaving over slumping currency, worsening insecurity, spiralling inflation and corruption.

Accurate figures for net emigration are harder to come by, and the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) has said that while people are leaving in droves, some “constantly” return.

Not everyone can afford to emigrate, especially to countries that middle- and upper-class Nigerians aim for, like Canada, the US, the UK or other European countries.

Visas to those countries can be expensive, and authorities often require proof of funds for daily expenses, even after the visa fees have been paid.

But armed with patience — it can take years to secure the paperwork — and often with financial support from relatives, more Nigerians are heading abroad for work or study. With almost 20 percent inflation in July, many Nigerians can no longer buy items they were once able to afford, and they want to leave.

‘NIGERIA IS A MESS’

Oloruntoba Adeyemi, who has a degree in computer science and earned around N650,000 a month in Nigeria, told FIJ why he left the country with his family.

“Three years ago, I would have called myself middle class, but now I’m just a privileged poor person,” he said, half-jokingly.

“I had to consider moving out of the country due to different factors, and much as we would like to sugarcoat it, this country is a mess,” said the 33-year-old father of two.

“It’s a whole mess and I didn’t create the mess, so I don’t think I owed the country any loyalty to stay and fix it.”

Arita Ibe, a Lagos-based final year student who attended the University of Lagos and was held back at home because of the ongoing ASUU strike, said she decided to move to New Jersey, United States, with her family because Nigeria didn’t seem to be getting better.

“I know I might still have to come back to finish my undergraduate degree but I just had to get out of the country,” Ibe said.

“When our visa application went through, it was like an answer to all our prayers.”

A MERRY-GO-ROUND

For Stella Ohemu, a 30-year-old pharmacist living in the country’s capital, Abuja, and earns around N110,000 a month, life in Nigeria was a merry-go-round.

“I’ve been working for three years. I had two jobs at one point, but it still wasn’t enough,” she said.

Stella has now abandoned her dream of opening her own pharmacy to purchase a European or US visa. She is applying for visas to work in Europe or in the U.S., where she is “sadly open to doing anything”.

JAPA IS ENTICING, EVEN FOR THE RICH

Even among those who earn much more, japa is enticing.

Augustine Ugi, the 36-year-old CEO of a software development company based in Lagos, earns “between 5 and 10 million naira” a month and has more than 50 employees.

“I am leaving because I have to sustain what I have built,” said the father of twins, who is moving to London but will keep returning to Nigeria to maintain his operations.

On top of a sickly economy and ramshackle infrastructure, Nigeria’s rampant insecurity and corruption are also cited by some as reasons people up sticks.

“A lot of people who are rich in Nigeria tend to be involved in things that are illegal. And yet, here you are trying to follow the law, to be a good citizen, so you get frustrated,” said Emmanuel Jimawo, who arrived in Canada last week on a skilled worker visa.

The 32-year-old, who earned around N180,000 a month as a business analyst at a utility company in Benin City, said he already had five interviews since moving, boosting his hopes of a brighter future.

‘THERE ARE NO OPTIONS HERE’

A young Nigerian who simply identified as Azeez cited lack of equal opportunities and the country’s insecurity as a factor for leaving.

“They (politicians) are keeping what they have for themselves and it affects everything else,” said the 25-year-old, who is currently working in Dubai.

Azeez also added that the bloody crackdown in 2020 during the #EndSars protests spurred a lot of young people to action, as a lot of people had to draw up plans to emigrate.

“We had come out to say ‘no more’ and what we got was indiscriminate killings,” Azeez said. “That was when some people realised there are no options here.'”

For Adonye, moving to the UK with his wife was “like being born into a new world”, though it was still “very painful”.

“Nigeria is where I was born; it’s who I am. But I had to run,” he said.

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