Category Nigeria News

Former Member of the House of Representatives, Nkoyo Toyo, has identified the lack of employment opportunities as the main driver behind the Japa syndrome in Nigeria.

“Japa syndrome” is a popular Nigerian expression referring to the growing trend of mass emigration, especially among young professionals, graduates, and skilled workers who are leaving the country in search of better opportunities abroad.

“The lack of work is a major crisis and this is the most driving force of Nigerians going on Japa”, Toyo said on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Thursday.

“It is the most driving force of Nigerians going on Japa. You know, people are leaving the country wanting to seek better fortunes outside the country”, she added.

Toyo, who once represented the Calabar-Odukpani Federal Constituency of Cross River State, noted that in the 1980s, students would often get jobs immediately after graduating from university — a stark contrast to the current situation.

“When we graduated from the university back in the early 80s, we left straight from the university and we got jobs. But today, you can tell very easily that the lack of work is a major crisis”, she said.

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She further lamented that Nigerians who relocate abroad often face various forms of indignity.

“In those countries they go to, they are being subjected to all sorts of indignity, which we see in South Africa and in different parts of the world”, she said.

The former lawmaker also pointed out that many Nigerians are tired of repeated promises and being told to “wait”, stressing that what people truly want is a country that works for them.

“Nigerians are tired of being told that they should wait, they should give us time, they should also look at the future and the prospect that this comes with.

At the Trade Fair Complex in Ojo, the Lagos State government on Thursday began the demolition of unsafe and illegal structures.

The Lagos State Building Control Agency, Lagos State Urban Renewal Agency, Lagos State Physical Planning Permit Authority, and the Ministry of Physical Planning collaborated in carrying out the operation.

Jubril, the governor’s senior special assistant for new media, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, confirmed the exercise in a post on X.

He claimed that the action was to re-instaure order and enforce physical planning regulations.

He claimed that the operation was aimed at “illegal developments, structures without statutory approvals, defective structures, and buildings erected on road setbacks and drainages.”

According to Gawat, “The Lagos State Government has begun to remove illegal developments, structures without statutory approval, and defective structures, as well as those constructed on roads and drainages in the Trade Fair Complex, Ojo Local Government area.”

Read more about the Supreme Court’s investigation into WhatsApp blasphemy

Nigeria’s Supreme Court held its first hearing in a high-profile blasphemy case Thursday that defence lawyers hope will lead to a ruling that puts curbs on sharia law.

Yahaya Sharif-Aminu, a Sufi Muslim musician, was sentenced to death by a sharia court in Nigeria’s northern Kano state in 2020 for sharing song lyrics deemed to insult the Prophet Mohammed.

The Kano State High Court later overturned the conviction but also ordered a retrial — an outcome his lawyers are trying to prevent while seeking a wider ruling on punishments for violating sharia law, including the death penalty for blasphemy and adultery.

“All various aspects of the sharia penal code that offend the constitution and Nigeria’s international obligations, we cannot have on our statute books”, lawyer Kola Alapinni told reporters after the court granted an extension for his team to file their appeal.

Though Nigeria’s federal government is secular, sharia law operates alongside common law in 12 mostly Muslim northern states.

Harsh punishments for violations of Islamic law are rarely handed out — and almost never implemented. Death sentences for adultery and blasphemy since the courts were established 25 years ago, have either been overturned or paused pending appeal.

However, mobs in the socially conservative north have been known to carry out vigilante justice for alleged blasphemy.

As the case has wound its way to Nigeria’s highest court, civil and religious liberties advocates from the United States, European Union, and United Nations have voiced support for Sharif-Aminu.

In April, the international court for the West African regional bloc, the Community Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States, determined Kano’s death penalty for blasphemy was “excessive and disproportionate”.

Nigeria has not enforced the ruling.

Sharif-Aminu is alleged to have shared lyrics in a WhatsApp group that said that a Muslim religious leader he followed was more pious than the Prophet Mohammed, Islam’s founder, Alapinni told AFP.

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Lamido Abba Sorondinki, a lawyer for the Kano state government, told reporters that “anybody who has uttered any word that touches the integrity of the holy prophet, we’ll punish him”.

Standing next to him, Alapinni laughed and quipped: “My learned friend is not the Supreme Court — that’s just the opposition”.

Sharif-Aminu remains in detention as his appeal continues.

The Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) has refuted reports of a three-day warning strike in Osun State.

Comrade Idris Adedayo Adeniran, the union’s chairman, stated in a statement released on Thursday that the action will continue unabated.

Adeniran criticized the reports as “false, baseless, and maliciously designed to undermine our legitimate struggle.”

He emphasized that JUSUN members would not allow attempts to stifle their resolve and that they would continue to support their demands.

He urged stakeholders, attorneys, and members to continue to work together and keep up the fight for justice and fairness.

Call for Solidarity Movement

Members of the Osun State Judiciary’s headquarters were invited to a solidarity rally by the JUSUN State Executive Council.

The meeting, which is scheduled for 8:00 a.m. today (Thursday) at the High Court Gate, aims to promote unity and promote justice.

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Adeniran urged people to support the organization and speak out loud.

The union reiterated its main demands, including “all judicial staff members, improved welfare, and better working conditions.”

Adeniran argued that these demands are “legitimate, reasonable, and long overdue,” adding that JUSUN would continue to support them until they are satisfied.

He argued that the Judicial Service Commission’s approval of Chief Judge Adepele Ojo is necessary to put an end to the strike.