'Anyone who can afford to live abroad and has refused to ‘japa’ is mad' – Dele Farotimi

Lawyer and human right advocate, Dele Farotimi has said that shared his thoughts on the rate at which Nigerians leave the county to seek greener pastures.

In an interview with Teju Baby Face Oyelakin in his King of Talk podcast, Farotimi noted that as Nigerians, sanity is far from us.

He stated that anyone who can afford to live abroad and has refused to leave Nigeria is a madman as one has to be functionally insane to remain in Nigeria.

The human right activist was of the belief that it is the constraint of Nigeria that has led a lot of people to leave the country.

According to him, everything that should not happen in a normal country is happening; adding that abnormalities have been normalised in Nigeria.

Farotimi who is known for being very vocal about matters relating to the country, stated that Nigerians who left the country are not happy being away from their home nation, however, they left because Nigeria has constrained them and rendered it very difficult for them to actualize themselves or fulfil their potential.

He added that Nigerians moving abroad are escaping not migrating and that there is nothing wrong with seeking greener pastures in other countries.

He said;

The reality is that the Nigerians abroad are escaping and not migrating. That you decide to leave at the time you did, is a reflection of the wisdom you found in understanding the environment in which you’ve found yourself.

It is not that anything is intricately wrong with seeking greener pastures in other climbs.

But I am telling you that in all of my travels and I have been to a few countries around the world and I have never come across a single Nigerian who has told me that they are happy to be outside of Nigeria but they have left because Nigeria has constrained them, and rendered it very difficult for them to actualize themselves or to fulfill their potential. So it is the constraint of Nigeria that has led a lot of people to leave Nigeria.

So the wisdom of your decision is unquestionable. But I am not sure that a day passes without you looking back at Nigeria. I’m not sure you can ever be happy if you have to cut yourself off completely from the mad country you left behind.

“The objective reality is that there is nothing about Nigeria to suggest that those of us who have stayed behind are sane. You actually have to be insane to have a choice about leaving Nigeria and then they tend not to go.

You actually have to be functionally insane to remain in Nigeria.

In fact it is my thesis and argument that if you truly want to know the insane Nigerian look to the ones who have a choice as to where they will leave and who can afford to leave abroad but elect to stay behind in Nigeria.

Anyone you know who can afford to leave abroad and has refused to go and has stayed behind is a mad man.

The person has to be insane. Yes, how can you exercise a choice to remain in a place that is as functionally crazy as our country has become.

Everything that should not happen, every abnormality has been normalised in our space. Everything that should not happen is happening in this space and yet we all carry on as if it is completely normal.

So, I don’t believe it is right for a Nigerian to leave Nigeria and go abroad, especially America.”

Watch the video below;