“Japa’’ syndrome uncalled for – Authur-Worrey

Chief Olufunke Arthur-Worrey, a 96-year-old former President of the Lions club, has said that the subsisting crave of Nigerian youths seeking greener pasture abroad, otherwise known as “Japa’’, is uncalled for

The nonagenarian, who relocated with her family from England to Nigeria in 1960, stated this in an interview with the newsmen on Monday in Lagos.

She said, “England is good, but Nigeria is better’’, if the governments could create an enabling environment for Nigerians, especially youths, to actualize themselves.

According to her, Nigeria is endowed with natural and human resources to make the nation better than any country overseas.

The former President of the International Women’s Society noted that the burden was also on the youth to make a resolve to remain in the country to salvage it and positively change the tides.

She flashed back to her youthful days and Nigeria’s glorious days, when people only went abroad to acquire education and came back home to work for the development of the country.

According to her, the passion for national interest was the in-thing, as there existed among youths the healthy competition to be the best in their careers.

“The intention then was to go out to acquire needed skills that were lacking in the country for national development, not to go there to work and live forever.

“They were eager to return home to domesticate the knowledge they had acquired to project national growth and development.

“That aspect of our pre-independence national consciousness should be rekindled in our people with needed enablement such as constant electricity, security, good road networks, and entrepreneurship incentives,’’ she said.

Arthur-Worrey added, “Our people like to acquire education. It should be made affordable to all so that our institutions, the ivory towers of innovations and research, can be tailored to domestic social needs.

“The unique cultural heritage of African communal lifestyles that is lacking in the western world should be mainstreamed as a social mobilisation strategy for people to imbibe’’.

She also underscored the need for the government to tackle insecurity in the country to attract investment and job opportunities.

She said the government should exploit the creative ingenuity of Nigerian youths, which has continued to make them attractive to the outside world.

“With a development strategy, an enabling environment, and needed amenities in place, jobs would be created, people would be gainfully engaged, wealth would be created, and cravings for travelling abroad would be halted,’’ she said.