First Lady Remi Tinubu says she is worried about the number of parties held nationwide urging those who have to help their compatriots who do not have.
In an interview she recently gave to ARISE TV, the first lady also expressed concern about Nigerians fleeing the country to do menial jobs abroad.
“Nigerians, we can help each other. The rate we are doing parties and all that, why don’t you use the money to help your neighbours until we can really get on our feet?” said the first lady. “And those are the things we have to look at. It’s not that the government has to begin to give food to everybody.”
She added, “Now you don’t even know who are the poor. If they don’t ride a car, they will say they are poor. If you don’t have your own home, they will say they are poor.
“Even those people saying they are going to ‘japa’, they go there. What work are you going to do? You know, work that you refused to do at home where you have loved ones, you now end up to go and do there. With all their education, they’re driving cabs, but they won’t drive cabs here.”
Last September, Tinubu called on Nigerians in the diaspora to contribute their quota to the ‘Renewed Hope Agenda’ of President Bola Tinubu.
“The brain drain phenomenon, where highly skilled individuals leave their home country for supposedly better prospects abroad, is a concern for many African nations, depriving them of their expertise and talents needed for sustainable growth,” Ms Tinubu stated.
In February, the federal government said it was working to ensure an enabling environment for youths to excel in their chosen career and to stem the ‘japa’ syndrome.
However, billionaire businessman Bill Gates and ex-Governor Peter Obi said young Nigerians fleeing abroad for greener pastures was not inimical to the country’s national development.
