The vice chancellor of the Osun State University, Professor Clement Adebooye has called on the federal government to support the course of digitalized education as a means of stopping the trend of mass emigration also known as “Japa syndrome”.
Professor Clement Adebooye was declaring opened the 2023 annual lecture of the ‘College of Education’ Campus of the University in ipetu-ijesa.
Japa’, is a Yoruba word which means “to flee, or escape desperately.
It has become a popular slang representing the aspiration of many young Nigerians to leave the country and migrate elsewhere to seek greener pastures either legally or otherwise.
This wave of mass exodus has seen many Nigerian talents out of the country just as experts have predicted a possible shortage of Human Resources in all sectors if the menace is not addressed.
To ensure the message of the lecture is passed to the right audience, students of secondary schools and higher institutions, public and private sector workers, traditional and religious leaders, security operatives among others were all invited.
Themed, Mass Emigration, Global citizenship and Digitalized education for sustainable development, a legal Practitioner, Toyin Sanni who identifies factors responsible for the mass emigration however said the syndrome is not peculiar to Nigeria alone.
Vice chancellor of the University said any country where ninety percent of its youth are willing to emigrate may not be able to exist independently anymore.
They all charged the youth to change their orientation adding that changing Nigeria for good is the responsibility for all.