Japa: No place better than Nigeria, Dalung tells youths

Former Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Solomon Dalung, has called on youths in the country to ditch the idea of relocating abroad to seek greener pastures. He spoke at the annual maiden lecture organised by Crisp Nigeria (CrispNG), a youth-focused online media organisation, on Saturday, to commemorate the 2024 International Youth Day. In recent […]

Former Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Solomon Dalung, has called on youths in the country to ditch the idea of relocating abroad to seek greener pastures.

He spoke at the annual maiden lecture organised by Crisp Nigeria (CrispNG), a youth-focused online media organisation, on Saturday, to commemorate the 2024 International Youth Day.

In recent years, young people have been leaving Nigeria in droves for abroad in pursuit of opportunities amid the harsh economic realities in the country.

But speaking on this, the ex-minister said having travelled to over 70 countries in the world, he realised there is no place better than Nigeria.

He said: “I want to discourage every young person who has the instinct to *japa*. I have traveled to over 70 countries around the world and discovered that there is nowhere I can live as comfortably as in Nigeria.

“There is no place better than Nigeria, and Nigeria can work. So let’s change our frustration into positivity and begin to see how we can make this country better for all of us. I am anti-japa. Nobody should go anywhere; this is our country.
“Nobody is more Nigerian than anybody else. We’re all Nigerians, and I encourage you to stay, fight for your country. All of us will fight to have a better country. We are not against anybody; we just want a better country. That’s the message—if Nigeria works, there will be no quarrelling.”

Dalung called on youths in the country to unite and be strategic to gain access to power and leadership in the country.

He added: “To the young people in Nigeria, I think my last words would be that there are quite a number of our generation that believe in you. All you need to do is reorganize yourselves, come together, and begin to ask reasonable questions to gain access to power and leadership.

“From our standpoint, we are also fighting for young people to be allowed to participate in governance so that we can retire and advise you. Since our own dreams cannot materialize, we should not frustrate your dreams.”