Dele Momodu Pulls Ears of Those Comfortable in Nigeria But Trying to Japa

Nigerian journalist and speaker Dele Momodu is speaking about the realities of the 'japa' syndrome and cautioning people on what they should expect, and why people who are already well-off shouldn't abscond from Nigeria if they think going abroad will give them a better life. Speaking during the Teju Babyface show, Dele Momodu said:

DELE MOMODU: If you're advising people in Nigeria not to go abroad, nobody listens. Nobody listens. I made a distinction, in my own case, I was forced into exile by the Abacha government. So, in that case, it was a matter of survival. I needed to survive because I could have been charged for treason, and then punishable by death or life imprisonment, or whatever. So, I left under duress.

It is different from a man who is a bank manager and calls his wife and children and says, 'Nigeria is too tough.' Then, you sell—you have two properties, you sell, gbam, you go and start looking for visas. And then you manage to get the visa because of your status as a bank manager. They thought, 'Oh, this one will not run away.' They didn't know the man was absconding from Nigeria, you know?

And then you pack yourselves and pay 30 to 40 million, because you're a family of five, and now with the exchange rate, tickets are in millions. So, you carry 30, 40 million, you go and buy the ticket. You think your problems are solved once you land in London or in America? My brother, my sister, your problem has just started. Unless a miracle happens, and that miracle may be one in a million.

If you have 30, 40 million in Nigeria and you think you are a poor man, I beg you, you are a mad man. I'm sorry, I'm being brutally frank. You have 30, 40 million and you can't set up a proper business in Nigeria? I beg you, think again. I know what I'm saying may sound stupid to you. "Oh, insecurity." There's nowhere where there's perfect security. On a single day, 3,000 people got killed in New York. The people of New York have not abandoned New York because of that. So, if insecurity is your problem, in fact, you can provide your own security in Nigeria. If food is the matter, in fact, if you want to start your own ranch in Nigeria with cows and everything, with 30 million, you can start.

But the attraction of going abroad, I tell people, is that when you go on vacation, everybody welcomes you. You are staying with your family in a free house. The day you carry all your children to another man's house and he knows you are not going to leave in a hurry, then you will see the difference. When it's a vacation, they know three weeks, four weeks, you are going back. They don't mind. They will endure. But when it becomes a permanent burden on their own family, you will be rejected. And the day you now rent your own house, that is the trauma you are going to carry almost for the rest of your life. You now have to face the reality of paying your own bills abroad, and there is no mercy there.

What do you think of what Dele Momodu had to say? Let me know your thoughts by leaving a comment either below or on my Jide Okonjo Facebook post.

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