Abia State Governor, Dr Alex Otti has emphasized the urgent need for Nigerian leaders to evolve polices that offer comparative opportunities as those available in foreign countries to curb the JAPA Syndrome.
Governor Otti who stated this when he received in audience the Executives of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), urged the nation’s leaders to craft strategies that would retain bright minds and make Nigeria an attractive place for its citizens to thrive and prosper.
The Governor highlighted that the only effective response to curb the JAPA Syndrome is to create an enabling environment and generate job opportunities to encourage Nigerians to remain in the country.
“JAPA’ syndrome is actually the reality that faces us.You cannot legislate it, you cannot do anything about it.
“Once your economy and your system don’t look conducive or doesn’t look attractive or if other economies are looking better than yours, they will go there, no matter what you do.
“You must have the right policies to attract young talented people”, Otti stated.
He noted that the only effective response is to create an enabling environment and generate job opportunities to encourage Nigerians to remain in the country.
“The only response you have is to create the enabling environment, create jobs for them and encourage them to stay back.
“It is a demand and supply situation. That demand and supply is a very interesting concept from economics, it has gone to everywhere.
“If demand is higher than supply, prices will go up. If your prices go up, demand will go down. So that is how it is”.
He urged the leadership cadre in Nigeria to “put on our thinking caps” and devise solutions to combat the ‘JAPA’ syndrome.
Governor Otti who approved land for the building of Bankers Training Institute in Abia State, directed his Principal Secretary to engage with the Commissioner for Lands and Housing to identify a suitable place for the Secretariat to be erected.
He called on the CIBN to subscribe to the two State-of-the-Art New Smart Cities his administration is planning to build in Aba and Umuahia.
Mr Kelechi Adiele
Earlier, the Public Relations Officer of CIBN, Mr. Kelechi Adiele said that they came to identify with one of their own and discuss various ways of deepening the relationship between the CIBN, the Bankers Committee and the State.
Adele commended Governor Otti for his visible and verifiable achievements within a short period in office which has enhanced the productivity and the economy of the State.
He further lauded Governor Otti for his efforts in the economic arena, which they said has helped to improve employment generation and drive the economy forward through various empowerment programmes.
