African countries only fund about 15% of the AU's annual budget. The remaining 85% is donated from the EU, multilateral organisations (U.S. government with extra steps), and to a lesser extent, China.
That's why the AU passport was supposed to launch on Janurary 1, 2014, and 11 years later nobody knows what happened to it. The AU works for who funds it. Not for you.
The day I realised that my life was already "over" was the day I realised that from the 2nd half of this year, I will officially be closer to 50 than 20. I am not a "youth" anymore. Whatever I wanted to accomplish in life when I was a child is either never going to happen because I'm already too old, or it needs to be happening now because I will soon be too old.
And knowing that my life is basically over, I decided that I might as well die doing something worthwhile, because whether I like it or not, I'm getting older and I'm going to die one day.
There's someone I know who left Nigeria in 2000 to study medicine in Ghana. After qualifying and working for some years, he left Ghana in 2017 with his wife and kids and "japa" to the Yookay. After 7 years in the NHS, I opened LinkedIn last week and saw that this oga has once again "japa" with his family from the Yookay to Australia in January 2025. This guy started the extended process of "japa" from Nigeria 25 years ago when I was still in Primary 6, and now that he is nearly 45 with a wife and 2 children, he is still in the middle of another batch of "japa" plans. "Japa" has turned into some kind of lifelong Israelite journey without a defined conclusion or end point.
Which type of life is this? Is this what you people honestly believe that Nigerian human beings came to this world to do? Our role on earth is to roam around everywhere like nomadic cattle herders, hawking our certificates and skills to everybody who will give us residency or citizenship - until they get tired of us and then we carry our families and start submitting passports and documents to move halfway around the world all over again? Do we seriously not think that there is more to life than just forever refusing to face our Nigerian problem, while hopping from UK to US to Canada to Australia to Saudi Arabia, each time hoping that not too many of our people will follow us so that our latest destination won't "cast"?
When does it stop for god's sake?
Because the same disease afflicting the UK is also afflicting Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the rest of the other "japa" destinations. In fact I'm currently working on a story about Nigerian doctors in Canada who wrote and passed the RCPSC exam since 2020, only for the college to retroactively change the cutoff mark AFTER the fact, just so they could be excluded from practising in Canada (which did not happen to the white immigrant doctors who wrote the same exam and got the same marks). They do not want us there except it is to be entertainers, sportspeople, or members of the underclass who can be economically exploited in multiple ways including cheap/slave labour in their private, for-profit prisons which have shareholders and tradeable stocks.
If you like, japa through the whole of Europe plus the 5 eyes - oyibo is oyibo. The system is the same. It is designed to exploit, humiliate, and dehumanise you - no matter what degree you have, or how professionally accomplished you are. As long as you look like you do, the ONLY place in the world where you have a shot at full personhood is in Africa. So why not do something "crazy" and deploy whatever assets or knowledge or skills you have to free your country from the foreign-imposed stranglehold that made you "japa" in the first place?
Or you want to be 55 and still submitting your passport to oyibo people half your age, praying to God for visa approval to maybe Estonia or Latvia this time? Na life be that????
@sterlinghelp@Sterling_Bankng very unreliable, I used sterling pro successfully, only to login today to see this. I have imputed both my old password and default ID, I still receive an error message. No notice, nothing, just boom and you can’t access your account again. 👎🏿
@iammaximolus @TaxDoctorNG@theverydarkman In my opinion, the falana’s should go after bob & VDM. VDM first, he’ll provide the original recording, they’ll analyze exactly what bob said, not the stop and play VDM did. If bob said or insinuated that falz & Mr Falana aided him legally and they didn’t, then they go after bob
@seyilaw1 Well said! However, I am glad someone with a voice is speaking up. Thoughts *If a thief points out other thieves, it’s advisable to listen to him*
I’m one of the japa casualties.
Went from never wanting to live outside Nigeria permanently to taking the decision to live because of my unborn children.
Can’t complain about my life here but I’m stuck with a feeling of homesickness that never seems to abate.
It’s a terrible way to live.
Misplaced priorities amongst Nigerian youth on social media is alarming. If only we could channel this energy for better use… what do I even know seff 😔
Today, I join all my @myaccessbank warriors, young and old, in Nigeria and oversees, to mourn the passing of one of the greatest of men, @HerbertOWigwe
This is personal on a level many will not understand. We were blank slates, and these men wrote our starting stories.