The Lead Pastor of the Glorious Liberty Church (GLC) Global, Richard Osanaiye, has challenged the Federal Government to create jobs or empowered youths to start businesses, as part of efforts to tame increasing number of young men leaving the country in search of greener pastures abroad.
Unless the government creates such opportunities, young men would continue to “japa” from Nigeria, Osanaiye said.
‘Japa’, a slang derived from Yoruba language, which means to emigrate, is now common among Nigerian youths, most especially those willing to relocate from the country.
Speaking with newsmen at the church in Abeokuta, Ogun State, the young clergyman noted economic survival remains the major reason why youths are leaving the country while others take to criminal activities.
He spoke on the sidelines of the church’s conference tagged “Gathering of the Eagles 2022”, a programme which attracted more than 2,000 youths who who empowered with entrepreneurial skills.
Osanaiye argued that if unemployment problem is solved, other challenges would equally be solved.
He said “As a matter of fact, the reason why youths are ‘japaing’ is because there is no job. I teach my people that economic survival is the first for man. If you can’t provide for your family and yourself, that’s why you see people steal; that is the reason for yahoo-yahoo, that’s the reason for trafficking, kidnapping and all of that.
“If unemployment problems can be solved, other problems will be solved. So, one of the only reasons to deal with ‘japa’ issue is to give people jobs or empower them to get jobs or start businesses for themselves.”
Asked if he supports emigration of youths from Nigeria to abroad, he responded “I don’t advise youths to ‘japa.’ I advise youths to develop their potentials. By my training as a man of God, I believe you’re not limited by your environment, you’re limited by your decisions.
“God knows He created you to be in Nigeria, if He does not want you to be in Nigeria, He should have you created in the US or UK or whatever. I’m not saying people who have left the country are not supposed to leave but I believe that they left because they felt there are no enough opportunities for them. But we have developed opportunities for ourselves and we are creating structures and values for ourselves so much so that the people that left will look at us in the future and realise that we have a better life than them.”
