“Japa”: Self-Volunteer Into Slavery – Way Out

Abstract

The “Japa” syndrome is a slang and phenomenon in Nigeria thathas awakened the sensibilities of many scholars who have writtencopiously about it in recent time. To Ogungbile (2023), the word“japa” is a Yoruba Locution which means to leave for greenerpasture. Though, according to Ogunjobi (2022), the “japa” syndromewhich is the Nigerian slang for emigration was said to have occurredin the 70’s/80’s as the first time of such scenario. Ogunjobi (2022)makes reference to the “big scramble” of the 16th to 19th centuriesduring which the British Empire and other European warlords madeAfricans go through the excruciating forced labour of slave trade.However, according to him, the current trend is no longer related toslave trade but can justifiably be termed, “self-trade”.