Foreign
Nigerians in UK, US, Canada share ‘japa’ experience
What does ‘japa’ actually mean? Japa is a Yoruba word which means ‘to run away’ or ‘to leave somewhere or something immediately.’
The japa syndrome among the Nigerian populace especially the youths, represents the mass exodus of Nigerians abroad. The trend has evolved over time to represent a way of escape for Nigerians to secure a better life for themselves and their families.
The skilled workers most involved in the mass emigration are doctors/nurses, tech workers and most recently teachers. Many Nigerians have used and are still using the pursuit of quality education as an excuse to ‘japa’, as education is seen as the best bet to get visas easily with various countries offering scholarships for Master’s and undergraduate programmes, some of which come with an option for permanent residency.
In the same vein, the Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria, Prof. Josiah Ajiboye, said over 260 Nigerian teachers have migrated to Canada alone within the year 2022. He also said the United Nations had hinted of its intention to embark on mass recruitment of teachers from Nigeria.
The United Kingdom recently issued a circular stating that from February 2023, Nigerian citizens would be able to apply for a qualified teacher status through the Teaching Regulation Agency in the United Kingdom, that will see teachers get jobs in the UK. I daresay the 260 figure recorded by the TRCN may soon double or even triple.
What are the drivers of the Japa phenomenon in recent years? What factors led and are leading to the mass exodus of Nigerians abroad? Why are people leaving in droves and some even daring to escape via ship rudders, ignoring threat of certain danger or possible death just to emigrate?
In this piece, some Nigerians who emigrated to the UK, US, Canada and even the Asian country of Hong Kong speak on their various personal experiences.
Greener pastures
Mo, a 29-year-old Nigerian woman who recently moved to the UK, said she took the decision to leave Nigeria in search of better standard of living and better opportunities. She said living in Nigeria had become burdensome so she wanted a change of environment. Mo further revealed that an opportunity to return to Nigeria even if things finally begin to work out was not an option for her.
She said, “I moved to the UK nine months ago and I have no regrets about it. I wanted a change of environment and better standard of living for myself and my family. I have grown tired of Nigeria.
“Even if I am given an opportunity to return, I would not take it, I won’t even consider it, at least not now.”
A Hong Kong-based Nigerian, Chioma Eugene, said she would rather live in a country that provides better opportunities for her children than where such doesn’t exist.
She said, “I’d rather want my children to have a better chance at different opportunities than being judged by their passports. It’s enough that some people will most likely judge them by their skin colour, so let’s not add to that.”
A Lagos-based man, Mr Eze, whose children are schooling in the US and UK, said he wouldn’t want his children to have to go through all that he went through to make it in life. He said the opportunities attached to schooling abroad are unending compared to the Nigerian universities where strikes had become a norm.
“My son is schooling in the US and my daughter is schooling in the UK. You can’t compare the opportunities they already have even as they’re still in school. It’s not easy training them, the money is huge, but I’d rather this than Nigerian universities where strike is the order of the day. ASUU just finished an eight-month long strike and is still dragging the Federal Government over unpaid salaries.
“Does that sound like a serious country to you?” he questioned.
A working system
Eugene said the worst enemy of an average Nigerian is the system. She said the Nigerian system is designed to “make one fail” adding that although living abroad is not easy, the system is designed to help everyone succeed regardless.
She said, “I have been living in Hong Kong for nine years now and the difference is clear. I visited Nigeria in June 2022 and I’m still very shocked at the state of things.
Sharing a similar perspective, another Nigerian based in the UK, Oscar George, 44, said poor leadership accentuated by nepotism has eaten deep into the Nigerian system, hindering it from working.
He said, “Nigeria is lacking in patriotic leadership. Nepotism has eaten deep into the system. There’s also poor education of the citizenry and leadership. It’s like nothing works.
“Nobody is preventing me from returning but Nigeria actually seems to be a lost cause. There is a high level of lack of integrity across board.”
Also commenting, a US-based Nigerian, identified as Nsikan, said, “If we can make Nigeria an environment that works, where the barest minimum welfare and standard of living isn’t a problem, the japa trend might actually start to slow down. People need to see a system that is working, a system that is designed to help its citizens succeed.”
Foreign
UK: 11 Drug Couriers Convicted Over £13.8m Cannabis Smuggling Plot Through Birmingham Airport
Eleven drug couriers have been convicted for their roles in a plot to smuggle cannabis worth an estimated £13.8 million into the United Kingdom through Birmingham Airport.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) investigated the group after Border Force officers arrested them in August 2024 and seized 460kg of cannabis concealed in 22 suitcases.
According to an NCA statement published on Wednesday, the couriers had travelled to the UK from Thailand via Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport on the same flights.
The convicted couriers were identified as Carsten Kyei, 21, from Newham, East London; Bradley Lloyd, 27, and Claire McCullough, 36, both from Wythenshawe, Greater Manchester; Lewis Ross, 35, from Bolton, Lancashire; Nathan Vitorino, 26, from Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire; Ryan Boachie, 32, from Edmonton, North London; Gideon Oluwasetemi Olumoyegun, 26, from Dagenham; Tasia Nelson, 22, from Newquay, Cornwall; Jaden Ramen, 23, from Colliers Wood, South London; Paige Crisp, 24, from Broomhall, Worcester; and Jamal Clarke, 22, from Walthamstow, London.
Birmingham Crown Court heard that each courier had two suitcases, with each suitcase containing about 20kg of cannabis.
The suitcases were reportedly so heavy that the couriers had to pay excess baggage charges at Bangkok Airport to have them placed in the aircraft hold.
The cannabis had been vacuum-packed and concealed beneath a thin layer of clothing. Eight of the suitcases also contained Apple AirTag trackers, which NCA investigators established were connected to the same Apple ID account.
Suspicion was raised after Border Force established that four passengers had travelled from Birmingham to Charles de Gaulle Airport earlier on August 9, 2024, each carrying two large suitcases.
Border Force officers subsequently fully staffed the Nothing to Declare channel and intercepted the group.
One of the couriers had also been instructed by an associate: “my man gonna be on the other side – don’t leave the airport until you see him leave.”
Kyei and Vitorino were convicted on May 26, 2026, following a three-week trial, while Ross and Lloyd changed their pleas to guilty during the trial.
Crisp, Nelson and Ramen were convicted on Wednesday, August 19, following a four-week trial.
McCullough, Boachie, Olumoyegun and Clarke had previously pleaded guilty.
Those convicted on August 19 will be sentenced on October 22, while the others will be sentenced on September 3.
NCA Senior Investigating Officer Paul Boniface said the operation involved extensive planning.
“A huge amount of planning went into this sophisticated attempt to bring hundreds of kilos of cannabis into the UK,” Boniface said.
He said the coordination of flights and luggage demonstrated “the lengths criminals will go to in order to hide their offending.”
“With thanks to Border Force, we were able confiscate these drugs and stop criminals from benefitting financially from the damage they cause,” he added.
Boniface warned people against agreeing to smuggle drugs into the UK, saying anyone who attempted to do so would face justice.
Adam Chatfield, Head of Border Force Midlands Command, said the convictions should serve as a warning to anyone considering transporting cannabis into the UK.
He said the young people involved now faced serious consequences, including criminal records that could affect their employment opportunities and future prospects.
Victoria Norman of the Crown Prosecution Service said prosecutors and investigators had pieced together evidence of a coordinated attempt to smuggle large quantities of drugs into the country.
She said the evidence resulted in six members of the group pleading guilty, while the others were convicted following trial.
An Australia-based Nigerian, Foluso Omole, is facing trial over his alleged role in a $5m fraud involving the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
Omole was arrested by operatives of the Australian Federal Police at Adelaide Airport last Friday while allegedly attempting to flee Australia.
According to the report, Omole had allegedly “cut ties” in Adelaide and was preparing to travel to Nigeria before his arrest, a court heard.
The 38-year-old appeared before the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Monday, where his bail application was refused following allegations that he had attempted to leave Australia for Nigeria.
The court heard that Omole, a dual Australian and Nigerian citizen, had “purchased a one-way ticket to Nigeria” before his arrest.
A prosecutor also told the court that Omole appeared to have “sent, over the course of his offending, significant funds back to Nigeria”, where his wife resides.
The report stated that Omole was working as an NDIS coordinator and operating two businesses that employed several staff at the time of the alleged offences.
The prosecutor reportedly told the court that Omole allegedly received information “improperly” from a woman employed by the National Disability Insurance Agency over a period of six years and “used that information to obtain benefit fraudulently”.
The woman, who has also been charged in connection with the alleged fraud, was expected to appear in court on Thursday.
However, disputing the allegation that Omole intended to flee Australia, his lawyer, Mark Twiggs, told the court that his client had informed him that he planned to travel to London on a “return ticket” purchased before any raid on the woman’s home.
“The charges are denied. He has no record at all.
“My client has good reason why he should be given bail,” Twiggs said.
Omole is yet to enter pleas to one count of dealing with proceeds of an indictable crime worth more than $1m and one count of dealing with money or property valued at more than $1m that is allegedly the proceeds of crime.
Magistrate Patrick Hill, however, refused bail, citing concerns that Omole posed a flight risk.
“Whether it was a one-way ticket to Nigeria or a return ticket to London does make a difference as to the court’s assessment of whether or not Mr Omole is a flight risk.
“For the other reasons put forward by the prosecution, in any event, I remain concerned that he is a risk of flight and the bail application is refused,” Hill said.
In April, a Nigerian couple, Luciana and Femi Akanbi, were jailed in the United Kingdom for their involvement in a similar fraud scheme.
The couple reportedly used personal data belonging to Transport for London employees to carry out a tax rebate fraud scheme that cost the public purse more than £433,000.
The fraud, which was carried out between September 2021 and January 2022, was reportedly based on sensitive information belonging to at least 40 TfL workers, including passport details, National Insurance numbers and bank records. The information was used to submit 139 fraudulent tax refund claims.
Court proceedings at Woolwich Crown Court revealed that Luciana Akanbi, 38, who worked in TfL’s human resources department, had access to the personal records of about 107 employees, which were later exploited for the scheme.
A United States federal court has set August 21, 2026, as the deadline for the release of records linked to longstanding allegations concerning Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and U.S. financial accounts associated with him in the 1990s.
The records are being sought in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed by Aaron Greenspan, which has reportedly been before the federal courts for more than three years.
The documents are understood to be held by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
The development followed a reported request by the DOJ for an additional 10 days to comply with an earlier court order requiring the release of the records.
According to Von Batten, a Washington, D.C.-based Republican lobbying firm, Tinubu also joined the DOJ’s request for the extension.
The firm said it obtained a copy of a recent court filing submitted on Tinubu’s behalf and claimed that the Nigerian president formally joined the request just two business days before it became public.
However, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell rejected the request for additional time and directed that the records be released by August 21.
Von Batten said Tinubu’s reported decision to participate in the extension request raised questions about his reasons for seeking more time before the records are made public.
The firm alleged that the delay could potentially be used to lobby U.S. officials over concerns that releasing the documents might affect U.S.-Nigeria relations.
It further speculated that Tinubu could argue that disclosure of the records might affect his cooperation with Washington on counterterrorism and security matters.
The records relate to allegations dating back to the early 1990s, including the 1993 forfeiture of approximately $460,000 connected to accounts associated with Tinubu in a U.S. proceeding involving suspected proceeds of narcotics trafficking.
Tinubu has consistently denied wrongdoing and has rejected allegations linking him personally to drug trafficking.
Von Batten also warned against any attempt by U.S. officials to interfere with the FOIA or judicial process to prevent the records from being released.
The lobbying firm referenced U.S. President Donald Trump’s stated opposition to shielding individuals accused of serious criminal conduct, arguing that the legal process should be allowed to proceed without political interference.
With Judge Howell’s ruling in place, the records are expected to be released on or before August 21, unless further legal action changes the deadline.
The contents of the documents remain unknown, and their release could provide further information about the 1990s forfeiture proceedings and U.S. law-enforcement investigations involving accounts linked to Tinubu.
South Africa’s anti-immigration group, March and March, has announced September 30 as a fresh deadline for undocumented foreigners to leave the country, as it staged a protest outside the Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit in Durban on Monday.
The group marched through central Durban under the theme, “It’s time to fetch your people,” calling on African leaders attending the 46th SADC Summit to take back their citizens living in South Africa without legal documentation.
March and March had earlier led nationwide protests on June 30, demanding tougher government action against undocumented immigration and warning that its campaign would continue until its demands were addressed.
Announcing its latest action, the group said the September 30 deadline would mark the beginning of what it described as the “mother of all protests”, while urging South Africans to assist the police in identifying undocumented foreigners.
The protest took place as the 46th Ordinary SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government got underway in Durban, with leaders from the regional bloc’s 16 member states in attendance.
The demonstration has renewed debate over South Africa’s treatment of foreign nationals, particularly citizens of other African countries.
President Cyril Ramaphosa recently condemned discrimination and violence against foreigners, saying South Africa could not advocate regional integration at the SADC summit while practising exclusion within the country.
The June 30 protests were accompanied by security operations and reports of attacks and looting in some areas, according to police reports cited in the original report.
March and March has continued to demand tougher action against undocumented immigration, while tensions over the treatment of foreign nationals have prompted some African countries to evacuate their citizens from South Africa.
The latest protest has brought the immigration dispute directly to the doorstep of the SADC summit, placing the issue before regional leaders whose citizens are among those affected.
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