A former Presidential Adviser, prolific writer and social media influencer, Reno Omokri has urged Nigerians to expand their world view to understand that challenges abound all over the world and not peculiar to Nigeria.
Writing on X, he specifically said that if we don’t travel to other countries, you may misconstrue Nigeria as the worst country in the world which is not true.
The social media influencer revealed that on account of the adverse living conditions abroad, there is a reverse ‘japa’ – that’s people returning from abroad – Europe, the Americas , Oceania and others to live in Nigeria.
The reverse japa, he added, includes those born abroad and are citizens of those countries.
He gave examples.
See the full post on X:
“What happens when you don’t travel out of Nigeria is that you have an overly romanticised view of other countries. You begin thinking that everywhere is better than Nigeria because Nigerians, especially Southern Nigerians, have a confirmation bias against Nigeria. We believe that all our issues will end if we just japa.
Unknown to us, because our media do not feature it, there is a reverse japa to Nigeria of Nigerians either born abroad or who went abroad and got a second passport or residency. Tiwa Savage, Davido, Don Jazzy, Naira Marley and Rita Dominic, to mention a few, are some of the more popular reverse Japanese.
And believe it or not (you may want to Google it), White Anglo-Saxon Protestants are right now trooping to, wait for it, Lagos for medical tourism. As long as you have your money, Lagos, Nigeria, is the place to be if you don’t want to die while waiting for the NHS or other public health services in Europe.
Initially, TB Joshua was the single biggest attraction for these WASPs. But now that he has gone, Lagos hospitals are filling the Lacuna. Jeffrey Daniels, the man who taught Michael Jackson to do the Moonwalk, was sick and could not even identify what was wrong with him. That is until he visited a private hospital in Lagos. And voila! He was diagnosed and cured. He is still alive and living his best life now. He told me this himself, face to face.
Just try to travel to Ghana next door. If you can survive a week in Ghana, you are a strong person. It is a lovely country, but everything you can imagine is more expensive in Ghana. The same is true in Kenya and almost every country in Africa.
I was in Ghana and Kenya to do a documentary. And people in those countries would give an arm and a leg for some of the things we enjoy in Nigeria. Who born you to get subsidised electricity in Ghana and Kenya? If you don’t have your minimum of $82 in Ghana and $98 for your electricity bill in Kenya, no light for you! That is for regular citizens. If your house is a duplex, you are not paying that. You will pay more!
Yes, they pay them more as salary. But what does it profit you to earn triple what you earn in Nigeria and pay quadruple what you pay in Nigeria?
Even in Europe, there is a cost of living crisis. By the time you earn and you pay all your bills, you can hardly eat. And to receive state support or social security, you need to earn below a certain threshold.
So, yes, your japa friends can come on Facebook and deceive folks back home by posting photos of themselves in designer clothes that they will jejely return to the rack after asking their friend or the shop attendant to snap them. Travel abroad and call them; they will dodge your calls because they think you want to come and live with them and bust the myth of enjoyment they have sold you via social media. The reality of life is that life abroad is increasingly getting difficult.
Nigeria is a great country. The only issue is that we, as Nigerians, are very negative, and even a great country will look like a terrible country when you are constantly negative about it.”
