A motion seeking to stop ‘japa’, a trend which sees Nigerians leaving for abroad in search of greener pastures on Thursday, rejected by the House of Representatives.
The motion which was sponsored by Philip Agbese (APC-Benue), who used to live in the UK, was on Thursday, presented at plenary, where the lawmaker claimed that the situation is taking away young, productive Nigerians abroad and should be declared as a national emergency.
The lawmaker also lamented the growing statistics of young Nigerians leaving the country and securing permanent residence abroad is a great challenge for Nigeria as it affects its economic, intellectual and social wellbeing.
Agbese said statistics showed that there was a 40 per cent increase in the number of young Nigerians leaving the country compared to what the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) captured and reported in 2019.
However, after the lawmaker’s presentation and contributions against and for the motion by Sada Soli Jibia (APC,Jibia) and Ahmed Jaha (APC, Borno) respectively, the Speaker Tajuddeen Abbas, put the motion to voice vote, where the majority of the members voted nay and the motion was stepped down.