Japa Nigeria! – Hello cold Germany!
'Japa' is a Yoruba word meaning 'to run away.' That is what many Nigerian youths are doing in the search for greener pastures and better job opportunities. Chiamaka Ikeanyi, a young software engineer moved to Berlin to build her career and experience life abroad. One lesson she learnt: leaving home means also leaving a lot behind.
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00:00When a Nigerian says I want to japa is like I just want to like leave the country and go to a new country like
00:07Living behind the friends and loved ones to explore new opportunities
00:11like see how life is outside of Nigeria and then get to
00:16Grow in their career and every other aspect of life. I
00:21Actually moved around the time that a lot of my friends moved so it felt like we all decided to let's just leave
00:27I'll find somewhere that would offer us opportunity to
00:32grow almost every second Nigerian asked in
00:362019 by the Pew Research Center said they plan to move abroad to search for better work opportunities
00:43European cities like Berlin attract many Nigerian professionals like Chia Maka
00:48Other spots to japa to are the United States Canada or Great Britain, but with a new place come new challenges
00:57The
00:59Hardest part of being in Germany, maybe the language and the culture. I would say that Germans I bits
01:08reserved so and
01:11the bureaucracy in Germany is actually a lot like
01:16Unlike many of her peers Chia Maka had a good job back home in
01:212022 every second youth in Nigeria was unemployed according to the National Bureau of Statistics
01:28Youth are also struggling with insecurity bad governance and unfair working conditions
01:34Job opportunities is really like what makes a lot of Nigerians want to leave unlike a
01:42better, you know environment to
01:45Innovate because I generally is really like a cool country like strong economy a lot of job opportunities
01:52and then they lack the
01:54Talent to do this work and then Nigerians have it
01:58So Nigerians just want to go out there where they are being sought after
02:02Where they will be really paid well for doing the same thing that they do in Nigeria
02:07But as tempting as moving abroad may sound it also means leaving a lot behind
02:14I miss my family. I
02:16Miss my friends. I miss the food. I miss
02:21the people in general
02:23Yeah, and also the warmth. It's like Nigeria is a tropical country
02:28So definitely I miss the warmth because you can see what's going on right now
02:33Chia Maka grabbed the opportunity to work in Germany and does not regret it
02:37She is ready for whatever the future brings be it in Germany Nigeria or anywhere else in the world