“Japa”: An Exploratory Study of the Roles of Social Media in an Out-Migration Trend in Nigeria

Abstract

This study seeks to understand the roles of social media in the new “Japa” migration trend in Nigeria. As part of this main objective, the study investigates the demographic characteristics of these new migrants—their age, gender, and socioeconomic status classifications. It also explores the challenges experienced by these new migrants before leaving and after arriving at their destination countries and asks if and how social media mitigates these challenges. The participants consist of Nigerians who lived in the United Kingdom ( N = 18; 48.6%), Canada ( N = 5; 13.5%), the United States ( N = 10; 27%), Sweden ( N = 1; 2.7%), and France ( N = 3; 8.1%). They were aged between 26 and 48 years, with an average age of 32.5. There were 22 (59.5%) men and 15 women (40.5%) in the study. The study finds little to no evidence to support the conclusion of a more direct influence of social media on the migration decision of this Japa migration trend among the cohort interviewed. More conservative social media platforms were preferred to other, more open social networking categories. Also crucially important is the role of trust engendered by offline social network ties (including family kinship and friendship) of online influencers. The display of affluence as a motivating factor could not be conclusively established; other factors like socioeconomic, insecurity, career prospects, and unemployment were mentioned as more important. Social media applications were recognized as information-gathering tools rather than inspirational or motivational sources for the Japa migration enterprise.