Young Nigerians have been flooding Twitter with pictures showing them leaving the country for good in search of a better life elsewhere.
‘Japa’, slang for ‘escape’, or ‘run’ has been trending on the top 10 topics on Twitter for at least three consecutive days. It is at number 2 at the time of filing this report. It has garnered over 44,000 tweets.
The trend is basically tweets of Nigerians sharing their picture at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, the airport of their host countries, or inflight with captions saying that they have successfully escaped from Nigeria.
Some simply post their international passport with their boarding pass accompanied by an iconic picture of the famous actress, Sola Sobowale holding out a glass of wine with the caption “Welcome to the new dispensation’.
Microsecondnews’ checks across Twitter indicated that the Sobowale picture has been used so often that it has become the number one Japa meme.
Others simply tweet that they have now officially deleted their VPN, in an apparent reference to the Twitter ban in Nigeria which has made it necessary for whoever wants to use Twitter in the country to download and install VPN applications.
Once outside Nigeria, they have no use for the VPN any longer.
Some commentators remarked that a majority of those leaving at this time are students travelling in time for the commencement of the September academic session in the United Kingdom and other countries.
One commentator claimed that the last time Nigeria experienced this mass exodus of Nigerian youths was when Muhammadu Buhari was in power as a military Head of State, and it took the administration of Olusegun Obasanjo to lure them back with a promise of a better Nigeria.
@Emmanuel_Uche tweeted: “This thread about people that japa yesterday is crazy because, I and my madam officially stopped using VPN yesterday as well!” He included a picture of himself and his wife at the airport.
@Omar_Magajee: I done japa leave sapa for una. #Japa #Japa He included a picture of his international passport and his hand luggage.
@Mbahdeyforyou: “Leaders of tomorrow dun dey japa”
Uncle iNi: “Behold Sola Sobowale to the world as the New Japa Brand Ambassador. It is indeed a new dispensation, Goodbye to VPN.”
@Sujodamystique: “It’s September, schools just resumed. Most of the japa pics you’re seeing are students. 100% of those going to the UK. They have just spent huge money on fees etc to begin a new life. It’s going to be a tough first few years for them. No need for all this bitterness against them.”
@nnekei: “If you did not contribute to putting Buhari in Aso Rock in 2015 & 2019 and you are on the Japa trend God go open doors for you and the Japa go favour you in every way.”
@Odogwu_Nomso: “October 2020 triggered a lot of people to give up on Nigeria then the “Twitter Ban” basically sealed any plans they had to continue staying in Nigeria. All the Japa Set of 2021, go & Prosper in your New Country”
@PetfemSpeaks: “Since we’re talking about japa, this was my flight to Houston, TX. I refuse to sleep in my Uber taking me from the airport to my host’s place make I no wake up for Lagos” He included a picture of himself in a plane.
He followed up with a tweet: “My beards now connect. I have more flesh. I don’t have to pray for electricity. If you can, japa but legally.
“BTW, I’m a grad student sha, lemme prepare for class”
@potter_lite “…and my aunt was ready to sponsor my Japa in 2015. I told her not to worry that Nigeria will be better. I even shouted ‘Sai Baba’ before I ended the call. Whoever is doing me is really serious on my matter”.
@Harri_Obi: “I think it was Asemota who tweeted about the last major Japa wave in Nigeria. It was also when Buhari was a military dictator. Only when OBJ came back as a civilian (president) that people started returning in droves to be part of the new Nigeria. Hopefully, this is just another wave.”
He continued, “I also remember when our entertainment industry started picking up. I was a young broadcaster then. It was impossible to get a job as an OAP because returnees with foreign accents had come in and taken all our jobs. This was less than 10 years back.”
@Davidbanksz was motivational. He said: “It’s JAPA season! I know say money dey dull you right now but no worry too much, that big miracle is nearer than you think.”
