This week's show explores the experiences of young Africans living on the continent and abroad. First, we delve into the factors compelling Nigerian youth to leave their country. Then, in our street debate, we engage with African expats in Hamburg, Germany to understand the requirements for success in a new country. African comedian Basketmouth shares his insights into the "japa" debate.
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00:00Have you heard of the word Jagba?
00:02It's referring to young Nigerians moving abroad
00:05for better opportunities and has become a popular trend.
00:09We had an entire show and a street debate in Nigeria
00:12on Jagba and it had such a massive response
00:15that we thought we should do a part two,
00:17but this time from the other side, from Germany.
00:20I am Fatou Eliko-Moloshi and welcome to the 77% show
00:24on Jagba, the other side.
00:26So, who are these people who Jagba?
00:33Let's hear about their experiences, how they make money,
00:36but also how they cope with life abroad.
00:39On today's show, we meet a Nigerian software engineer
00:42who Jagba'd to Berlin.
00:45In our street debate, we talk to high-skilled professionals
00:48in Hamburg and later, Nigerian comedian Basket Mouth
00:54weighs in on the issue.
01:00But wait, if you've never heard of Jagba,
01:03we've got you covered.
01:04Here's what you have to know and a recap
01:06of our street debate from Lagos, in case you missed it.
01:10Have you heard of the term Jagba?
01:13Jagba literally means to run or run away
01:16in Nigeria's Yoruba language.
01:18It's become the word to describe the phenomenon
01:20of young Nigerians leaving their country.
01:24How many people have friends who've Jagba'd?
01:27Let me see by show of hands.
01:29That's everyone.
01:31Many young people in Nigeria have either Jagba'd,
01:34that is left their country, or are on the verge of leaving.
01:38And there are several reasons why.
01:41Almost 90% of the people I went to school with
01:44have left the country.
01:46There's something about being a medical doctor
01:48that Nigeria is really failing at.
01:50If you go to other countries, Western countries,
01:52there's this huge amount of respect.
01:56And, you know, there's a care that's given
01:59to medical doctors that we do not have here.
02:01The thing about living in Nigeria is that,
02:03the paradox is that there's a lot
02:05of individual brilliance, right?
02:08But it doesn't translate to anything.
02:10So people want to take that brilliance
02:12and take it to a country that works,
02:13a structure that works.
02:14And you can't blame them.
02:15I've had several challenges like this
02:18where I'm trying to do something.
02:20I mean, I get into the environment,
02:21there's no Wi-Fi that can make me do stuff.
02:23There's no infrastructure that can give me an idea
02:25of what I want to do.
02:26It's very frustrating.
02:28Nigeria has one of the world's largest youth populations.
02:31And according to the Nigerian polling firm, NOI polls,
02:3573% of adults under the age of 35
02:38are open to leaving the country,
02:40if given the opportunity.
02:42It's natural that people move to places
02:45where there is a greener pasture.
02:47What I find a bit disturbing
02:49is the number of people.
02:52It's not a big deal if some persons want to go,
02:55get better and come back.
02:56At the same time, you can't also stop people
02:58from wanting to go and not come back.
03:02The recent wave of Nigerians moving out of the countries
03:05is the largest movement of people out of the country
03:08since the end of Nigeria's civil war over 50 years ago.
03:11Nigerian youths are scrambling to relocate
03:14to other countries where they can find employment,
03:17security and a better quality of life.
03:22Now you know the score on Jagba.
03:24More than 200 million people
03:26currently make up the African diaspora.
03:29And while we often hear of people leaving their country
03:32due to conflict or economic hardship,
03:35there are in fact many young professionals
03:37who leave in search of better jobs, new experiences
03:40and even a little adventure.
03:42Which brings us to Chiamaka Ikani,
03:45a young software engineer.
03:47She started a new life in the German capital, Berlin
03:50and we wanted to find out what that is like.
03:53When a Nigerian says, I want to Jagba,
03:56it's like, I just want to like leave the country
03:59and go to a new country, like leaving behind the friends
04:02and loved ones to explore new opportunities,
04:05like see how life is outside of Nigeria
04:08and then get to grow in their career
04:11and every other aspect of life.
04:14I actually moved around the time
04:16that a lot of my friends moved.
04:18So it felt like we all decided to, oh, let's just leave
04:21and find somewhere that would offer us opportunity to grow.
04:27Almost every second Nigerian asked in 2019
04:30by the Pew Research Center said,
04:32they plan to move abroad
04:34to search for better work opportunities.
04:36European cities like Berlin
04:38attract many Nigerian professionals like Chiamaka.
04:42Other spots to Jagba to are the United States,
04:45Canada or Great Britain,
04:47but with a new place come new challenges.
04:52The hardest part of being in Germany,
04:56maybe the language and the culture,
04:59I would say that Germans are a bit reserved.
05:03So, and the bureaucracy in Germany is actually a lot like.
05:10Unlike many of her peers,
05:12Chiamaka had a good job back home.
05:14In 2022, every second youth in Nigeria was unemployed,
05:19according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
05:22Youths are also struggling with insecurity,
05:24bad governance and unfair working conditions.
05:28Job opportunities is really like
05:30what makes a lot of Nigerians want to leave
05:34and like a better environment to innovate.
05:40Because like Germany is really like a cool country
05:42with like strong economy, a lot of job opportunities
05:46and then they lack the talents to do this work.
05:50And then Nigerians have it,
05:52so Nigerians just want to go out there
05:54where they are being sought after,
05:55where they will be really paid well
05:57for doing the same thing that they do in Nigeria.
06:01But as tempting as moving abroad may sound,
06:04it also means leaving a lot behind.
06:06I miss my family, I miss my friends,
06:10I miss the food, I miss the people in general.
06:15Yeah, and also the warmth.
06:17So like, Nigeria is a tropical country,
06:19so definitely I miss the warmth
06:21because you can see what's happening right now.
06:24Chiamaka grabbed the opportunity to work in Germany
06:27and does not regret it.
06:29She is ready for whatever the future brings,
06:32be it in Germany, Nigeria or abroad.
06:35Yeah, there's nothing compared to the warmth of home,
06:38but the question is whether that is enough to not jagba.
06:41Because despite the many challenges one faces abroad,
06:44going back home comes with its own challenges.
06:47Now, due to the language and also historical ties,
06:50Germany hasn't always been the most obvious destination
06:54for migrants from Africa.
06:55In the past few years, however,
06:57Germany has started attracting skilled migrants,
07:00which is why we'll still see a lot of migrants
07:03which is why we'll stay in Germany.
07:06Because for our street debate,
07:08my colleague Edith Kimani traveled to Hamburg
07:11to ask young Africans why they chose Germany
07:14as their new home.
07:15In case you did not know,
07:17Hamburg is one of Germany's biggest ports
07:20and was the hub of German migration to the U.S.
07:23Today, it is home to one of the biggest
07:25African communities in the country.
07:27Hello and welcome back to the 77% Street Debate.
07:30My name is Edith Kimani and this week,
07:32we are in unfamiliar territory.
07:34We are in the second largest city of Germany, Hamburg.
07:37Now, in recent years, it's come to be a home for experts
07:40looking for better opportunities abroad.
07:43Among those, of course, are Africans.
07:45The reasons why they're here,
07:46they will be telling us shortly,
07:48but also the implications that their absence at home
07:51could have on the future of Germany.
07:53So let's get to it.
07:55So let's get to it.
07:55So let's get to it.
07:56So let's get to it.
07:57So let's get to it.
07:58So let's get to it.
07:59So let's get to it.
08:00So let's get to it.
08:00So let's get to it.
08:01So let's get to it.
08:02So let's get to it.
08:03So let's get to it.
08:04So let's get to it.
08:05So let's get to it.
08:05So let's get to it.
08:06So let's get to it.
08:07So let's get to it.
08:08So let's get to it.
08:09So let's get to it.
08:10So let's get to it.
08:10So let's get to it.
08:11So let's get to it.
08:12So let's get to it.
08:13So let's get to it.
08:14So let's get to it.
08:15So let's get to it.
08:16So let's get to it.
08:16So let's get to it.
08:17So let's get to it.
08:18So let's get to it.
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08:20So let's get to it.
08:21So let's get to it.
08:21So let's get to it.
08:22So let's get to it.
08:23So let's get to it.
08:24So let's get to it.
08:25So let's get to it.
08:26So let's get to it.
08:26So let's get to it.
08:27So let's get to it.
08:28So let's get to it.
08:29So let's get to it.
08:30So let's get to it.
08:31So let's get to it.
08:31So let's get to it.
08:32So let's get to it.
08:33So let's get to it.
08:34So let's get to it.
08:35So how did that work out for you?
08:36Yeah, to be honest,
08:37I couldn't get the job I wanted
08:39because as someone that studied mathematics,
08:41everybody thinks, everybody from the community
08:43thinks I'm supposed to teach
08:45or work somewhere in the banks,
08:46which was where I worked
08:47before I moved to Germany for my master's.
08:50So I had to come back and look for a real job.
08:53Yeah, somebody else who has a similar experience
08:55is Precious, he's actually Dr. Precious.
08:57Like Abubakar here, you also moved back to Nigeria,
09:00hoping to get employment,
09:02but you only stayed there for eight months.
09:04Yes, it was quite challenging.
09:06I made lots of applications to different institutions,
09:10companies, universities,
09:11and at the end of the day, you get nothing back.
09:13Of course, there's the need for people like me
09:15back home in Nigeria,
09:17but the question is, is the infrastructure there?
09:19Somebody else who definitely needs infrastructure
09:21and facilities is Hawa.
09:23You are a maritime engineer,
09:25the first one I have to admit that I've ever spoken to,
09:28and you also tried to get a job in Nigeria,
09:30but that didn't go down quite as planned.
09:31I started looking for a job,
09:33it was pretty difficult for me.
09:35So many people told me, okay, you're female,
09:37some said, okay, you're willing to, and all of that.
09:40And when I eventually got a job,
09:42it was pretty hard for me because I had to do,
09:45double the effort, I have to put in double the effort
09:48to be seen as someone who is capable
09:50of carrying out the job.
09:51So we're gonna come back to some of the issues
09:54that plagued your different industries in a short while,
09:56but I want us to get grounded in some statistics first.
09:59And Roger here actually works with a company
10:01that brings workers to Germany.
10:03And you tell me it's because
10:05somebody was desperately looking for workers.
10:08Yeah, actually somebody in Hamburg,
10:09and it was a bus driving company,
10:11one of the two largest bus driving companies in Germany.
10:14And now the first five bus drivers,
10:16one group for integration reasons,
10:18not to be so lonely, to help each other out,
10:20this kind of thing.
10:21It was out of Flensburg,
10:22which is even farther up North than Hamburg.
10:24And the next five will probably come to Hamburg
10:26also this year.
10:27So you're still very much in the early days,
10:30but somebody might listen to you and say,
10:32Germany also has an unemployment problem.
10:34Why not hire German drivers to drive those buses?
10:38Who said that Germany has an unemployment problem?
10:40Well, statistically, there is a figure there
10:42when you look at Germany unemployment.
10:44Yeah, okay.
10:45Statistically, there is a figure,
10:47but this is very, very low.
10:48So there is a demand for skilled workers in every field.
10:53We are speaking not only about bus drivers,
10:54we're speaking about doctors, lawyers,
10:57judges, architects, name it.
11:00Yeah, so these are essentially known
11:02as deficit professions,
11:04the ones that he's just mentioned, including engineering.
11:07And Germany specifically, according to the latest figures
11:10by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry,
11:12is apparently falling short by 2 million positions.
11:16Is that how you felt when you came into this country,
11:18Urgena?
11:20Not really, because there are lots of people in Germany,
11:25both indigenous and foreigners who come to Germany
11:30to work and these people don't even find the jobs
11:32that we keep hearing are in abundance.
11:35Although, yes, so many people do find these jobs,
11:38but you still find even much more people
11:40not finding these jobs.
11:41So sometimes they end up either going back home
11:44to then look for a job at home
11:46or they might come back again.
11:49Let me come back to Roger,
11:50because while we were speaking earlier,
11:51you did mention to me that one of the biggest challenges,
11:53which I thought was interesting, is that people don't stay.
11:56I just can tell you that our clients
11:58or possible clients say this is the greatest challenge.
12:01People come and they leave after a year.
12:03So the key word here is integration, I think.
12:06But I also believe like when I see everybody here around,
12:09they come for university or something alone
12:12and they have to find their way.
12:13And if they come in winter, that is even worse.
12:15And they don't know,
12:16because nobody really expects coming from an African country
12:19that we'll have four or five or six months
12:21of shitty weather, you know?
12:22And I mean, shitty weather.
12:24And you can explain that to people from Kenya, wherever.
12:28As long as I want to, you have to experience it,
12:30otherwise you won't believe it.
12:31If you survive in Germany for one or two years
12:34and maybe you even have family and you can bring it over,
12:37I think you will stay for a long time.
12:38Okay.
12:39We are, you know, we are not very joyous people.
12:44But we're okay when you get to know us.
12:47I think everyone is laughing
12:48because they recognize exactly what you're saying.
12:50But because you mentioned the idea of being integrated
12:53and perhaps one day hoping to go back home,
12:55let me just see by show of hands
12:57how many people here have an agenda to relocate fully
13:00back into their motherland in the next, say, five years?
13:04Wow.
13:0710 years, maybe?
13:09Maybe, maybe for 10 years.
13:11Okay.
13:12So, but Phillip, let me ask you something.
13:14Do you feel beholden?
13:15Are you responsible for building Ghana?
13:19I mean, I was born a Ghanaian for a reason, I believe.
13:23So I have to contribute whatever quota
13:25I have to contribute to Ghana to help build it.
13:27But currently I don't see myself having the capacity,
13:30the money, you know, the experience to do that.
13:32So I would want to get all of these here
13:35or somewhere in Europe, developed country to-
13:40But how does Africa develop
13:41if all the skilled people are coming to the developed world?
13:44Yeah, so exactly.
13:45Like me, I come to get the knowledge
13:47and then go back and then create a business
13:49or establish a business and then help the economy grow.
13:52Okay, so you don't feel like you have
13:54or you owe your country anything at this point?
13:58At this point, sometimes I try to convince myself
14:02I don't owe them anything,
14:03but within me, I feel I owe them something.
14:07Okay, so Phillip is convincing himself
14:09he doesn't owe Ghana anything.
14:11Emanuela, do you need to convince yourself
14:13that Cameroon doesn't need you?
14:15Actually, I don't need to convince myself.
14:18And I think we are not the ones
14:19to answer that question, unfortunately.
14:22So now that we are doing this,
14:24I hope the government is watching
14:25and they should answer this.
14:27And this is not just about jobs.
14:29We've had people, for example, in Cameroon,
14:32who think, okay, if I can't get a job,
14:35I can do a business back home.
14:37And then they go and the taxes are crazy.
14:40And sometimes maybe you have to bribe your way
14:43to do a business that is going to benefit your country.
14:46If we all carry ourselves back home
14:48because we think we owe our country something
14:51and then we have to stay hungry,
14:54that's really been foolish.
14:57Okay, Abubakar, I know that you have
14:59some very strong opinions about this.
15:01Do you think your country has let you down?
15:03Are they creating the infrastructure,
15:04the frameworks for you to be able
15:06to thrive back in Nigeria?
15:09So to be honest, I would say sometimes
15:12it's not even that there is no job.
15:15Sometimes there is job for some certain people.
15:18What do you mean?
15:19Like for some people, for people that are connected,
15:22for people that know someone who is at the top.
15:25Okay, hold on.
15:26This guy just shouted nepotism.
15:27I have to come here.
15:29Yeah, I mean, what Abubakar said was correct.
15:32There might be jobs, but chances are
15:35they will just give it to someone who is related to them
15:38rather than give it to some set of people
15:41who are qualified to do that.
15:42And that eventually has like a domino effect
15:45because if you put the wrong person
15:46with the wrong skills for a job,
15:48then they don't know what to do.
15:49They're just picking the salary
15:51and not adding value to the society that they are to.
15:55There's nepotism, there's corruption
15:57and the industries are simply not developed.
15:59So because I want us to wrap this up,
16:02I do want to find out, you know,
16:04how do we make this sustainable?
16:05Because Europe will continue to need workers
16:08and workers will continue to come to Europe
16:10or other developed nations.
16:12How do we do that while still taking care
16:14of African economies?
16:16Any takers, Abubakar?
16:18So I would say almost everybody you see here
16:22is contributing to the Africa's economy
16:24because at the end of the day,
16:26we are sending money back home.
16:28I feel like I would want to contribute more.
16:30Maybe some of us feel like we're contributing less
16:32because I think Nigeria owe me a lot.
16:34So I would want to contribute more in the future, so.
16:37All right, Emanuela, let me hear from you
16:39because I know that you told me
16:40that you usually advise people
16:42unless you have found some firm ground here,
16:45do not attempt to go back home.
16:47Sure, and I do that all the time.
16:49Unless you have a job back home, do not go back home.
16:54So if you have a better job here,
16:56stay and be established before you can go back home.
17:00You know, we asked at the beginning
17:01why so many skilled workers are leaving
17:03their mother countries to come and work in Europe.
17:06The answers are many.
17:07One, Germany needs them,
17:09and two, they definitely need the money.
17:11How to be sustainable?
17:12You've heard all the answers there.
17:14Thank you all for watching.
17:16Bye-bye.
17:18Thank you, Edith, and all the panelists.
17:25Loads of food for thought there.
17:27If you want to hear more,
17:28check out the full debate on YouTube.
17:31You can also follow us on all our socials
17:33and let us know what you think.
17:35But we are staying in Germany
17:37because we have one more special Nigerian to meet here.
17:40The comedy legend, Basket Mouth.
17:43He's been making us laugh for over 20 years,
17:47and this year he kicked off his Europe tour in Berlin.
17:50I was fortunate enough to be there to watch his show
17:52together with many other fans
17:54from Berlin's African diaspora.
17:57And when I caught up with him,
17:59I asked him about his thoughts on Jamba.
18:03Listen, if you've not seen him,
18:05you've heard about him,
18:06and rarely does he crack jokes
18:07without you laughing out your jaws,
18:09and that's the man himself right now.
18:12We are going to talk to him right now.
18:14Perfect.
18:15And we've got the man himself now, Basket Mouth.
18:19Thank you so much for agreeing to do this with us.
18:22We know you are busy,
18:23but how do you feel about tonight?
18:25I feel so good.
18:26It was a great show.
18:28The energy was right.
18:29And for some interesting reason I,
18:33because this is a new set,
18:34and for some reason I just ran through it.
18:36I think, yeah, I'm really excited about it.
18:38We've seen that your crowd today has sold out event,
18:41and majority of them as well, African Nigerians.
18:44And we know that there's a trend,
18:46you know, the Japa as well.
18:48I just want you to tell us,
18:49what do you think about this whole thing?
18:51It's not only happening in Nigeria.
18:53Even where I come from as well,
18:55the Gambia, young people are leaving.
18:57What do you think it will take
18:58to really make young people stay?
19:00And do you think this is really a good thing though?
19:02So my opinion on, my thoughts on it
19:05wouldn't really change anything,
19:07because they are living their own reality.
19:09Their reality sometimes might be totally different
19:13from what I can possibly imagine.
19:16So if a man or woman decides to leave that space
19:20that he's not comfortable in anymore,
19:22so be it.
19:23As long as you travel legally,
19:25you obtain your papers legally.
19:27Legally.
19:27Legally.
19:28And you go through the right process,
19:31get a good job and everything.
19:32I'm cool with that.
19:34Now the idea of Jack buying,
19:36because if everyone leaves,
19:38who's gonna build the country?
19:39Very true.
19:40You understand?
19:41So that's my own,
19:42I don't have any intention to leave.
19:43What I did was I created my own country,
19:45my own space,
19:46and I live in that world right there.
19:49The major problem is not even this,
19:51because the problem is the leaders.
19:54The leaders-
19:54And that's where the conversation goes back to.
19:56That's where it goes back to.
19:57If they had done the right thing,
19:59like in Nigeria,
20:00we don't do a lot of exports, right?
20:02And that's why the Naira is drowning,
20:05because we're not selling much.
20:07And if it was happening that way,
20:11then definitely there will be job,
20:13there will be security,
20:13because when you have a lot of people unemployed,
20:16it breeds, it creates room for insecurity.
20:20So, but for real,
20:22what you guys must do is whatever you do,
20:26whether the creative work,
20:28you're creating contents and all that,
20:30try as much as possible to first make yourself whole,
20:35believe in yourself,
20:36keep yourself pure,
20:38with no negative thoughts or energy,
20:41because once the inside is dark,
20:44positive attracts positive, right?
20:46That's what you need.
20:47And when you are in that space,
20:49it means that you can feed from that energy
20:54around you positively.
20:56So when you're in that space,
20:57nothing can go wrong.
20:58It is not very easy to make fun
21:01out of the serious everyday issues
21:03that we go through, really.
21:05Just tell me the inspiration behind your comedy
21:07and what keeps it going.
21:09Like some of the materials I dropped on stage,
21:11about two or three of them came to me
21:14right before I got on stage.
21:16So what I do is I just listen to people.
21:18You're around you.
21:19Yeah, people around me,
21:20they say things and I take notes.
21:23Have you heard the phrase,
21:24don't ask what your country can do for you,
21:27but what can you do for your country?
21:29It was coined by former US president John F. Kennedy.
21:33I'm beginning to think that we need to rewrite
21:35that ideology because countries owe their people so much.
21:39Yet, as we just heard from Basket Mouth,
21:41not everybody leaves.
21:43Music artist, Victoria Falono grew up abroad
21:46and returned to her parents' home country, Nigeria.
21:49She found her place in Lagos' eclectic music scene,
21:52where she not only creates beautiful sounds,
21:55but songs with a message.
21:57That's the kind of homecoming we are talking about.
22:01♪ I woke up this morning ♪
22:05You could call her a globetrotter
22:06because it's not just musically that she likes moving around,
22:10but also one who is returning to her roots after living
22:13and experiencing many cultures.
22:16While some young people are leaving the country,
22:18Victoria Falono has decided to settle in Lagos, Nigeria
22:22after traveling the world.
22:25I think one of the most interesting things
22:27about traveling and coming back to Nigeria
22:31is seeing the different ways that Nigerian culture
22:35has influenced culture around the world.
22:37So like I lived in Cuba and I'm there seeing
22:42in the purest form Yoruba stories, Yoruba culture
22:48embedded in their culture.
22:49It's so rich.
22:50So for me, like coming to say, okay,
22:53I'm now going to sit down in Lagos as a place
22:56where I'm going to make sure
22:57that all my music is rooted here.
22:58It just makes sense because it's the source of everything.
23:02♪ I feel loved, I feel free ♪
23:06Born in Canada to Nigerian parents,
23:08Victoria Falono lived in the UK, Cuba, Denmark
23:12and the United States of America.
23:15She has created sounds that reflect her journey
23:18inspired by sounds of these various cities she has lived in.
23:22Now she tells us why returning to a place
23:24where her parents call home is special.
23:28Being home is like being rooted and grounded in yourself
23:31and your truth as an artist.
23:33That's the place you need to create from as an artist.
23:36When you have that, the energy, the vibrations,
23:38the rhythm, the histories of who you are beneath your feet
23:43and in the air and in the conversations
23:44that you're having with people.
23:46It just, it makes your art come to life in a different way.
23:49♪ Working all day, we go down low, we feeling all right ♪
23:53Every day is different.
23:55So I brought you, I wanted you guys
23:56to be in the studio with me.
23:59I might start on the keys, for example.
24:05So for example, I remember when N-STARS happened.
24:10It was a very emotional moment in our history
24:16and I just felt so overwhelmed with emotions.
24:18So one of the first things we'll hear.
24:21♪ My heart is bleeding, what's the remedy ♪
24:26♪ We march for freedom, you call me enemy ♪
24:31♪ No resolution ♪
24:35Victoria likes fusing Afro beats, R&B
24:37and other black diasporic sounds into her music
24:41by musicians who have influenced her
24:43from Fela Kuti, Nina Simone to Lauryn Hill.
24:47But still she wants to remain true to herself
24:50and her passion.
24:52Coming home for Victoria is an opportunity
24:55to continue to tap into her roots
24:57as her unique talents continue to blossom.
25:02Well, many of us would wish it was that easy, right?
25:06Go abroad, get the degree and experience,
25:08then go back home to contribute to the economic development.
25:12But whatever happens,
25:14we must never forget where we come from.
25:17So that's all we have for you today.
25:18Whether you are in your home country or abroad,
25:21don't forget to follow us on all our socials
25:24to keep this conversation going.
25:26I'll leave you with this masterpiece
25:27from Bob Sinclair and Sophie Nzao.
25:30See you next time.