According to Peter Mbah, the governor of Enugu State, his administration’s policies and programmes are intended to give young people in the state chances and put a stop to the “Japa syndrome.”
A recent wave of migration by Nigerians, particularly young people looking for better opportunities abroad, is referred to as “japa” in the Yoruba language.
The governor stated in an interview conducted on Friday in Enugu, outside of the Enugu State Investment Roundtable, that his administration wants to make sure that individuals stay in the state, “rather japa their skills around the globe.”
The world is currently evolving at a supersonic pace, he continued, so “we also realise that we need to ensure that our young people are prepared for the emerging future.”
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The governor stated that the purpose of Friday’s event was to whet the appetite of the investing community and demonstrate to them that Enugu is really the next location for investment. He also stated that the government’s goal for the diaspora and investment conference in the first quarter of 2019 is to close deals on investments.
Mbah added that the state is currently among the safest in Nigeria for conducting business. He also mentioned that he recognised insecurity as one of the major obstacles the administration faced in its effort to entice investors.
“A whole lot of these programmes and the discussions we are having about bringing in private sector investment, they are all targeted at benefitting our young people. We have a generation of skilful people in Enugu; I mean our literacy rate in Enugu is over 90 per cent.
“Again, through our policies we want to rubbish the japa syndrome. We want to ensure that our people stay here and japa their skills across the globe, what they are going to be moving around the globe will be their digital skills.”
“So, we understand that the skill set that they need to thrive in this emerging future is completely different from what was required some 20, 30 years ago. What that means is even in our social sector we are deliberate in terms of the skill set we expose this young people to.”
“In our pipeline, we have an investment potential of $2 billion and we are expecting to have a closure of that figure by the first quarter of next year,” he said.
