- Nigeria is the only African country on the top-10 list of new Canadian citizens by country of birth in the last 19 years
- The move is fuelled by the japa wave in many sectors caused by socioeconomic uncertainties in the country
- Netizens are disappointed that despite the ‘social media noise’ about Nigerians migrating to Canada, Nigeria is at the 10th spot on the list
Within the period, 71,459 Nigerians who had left the shores of the country became new Canadian citizens, according to data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
Although Nigeria occupies the 10th spot, according to the data, it is the only African country on the list alongside Asian, North American and European countries.
The data, which contained the top 10 new Canadian citizens by country of birth, is heavily dominated by citizens from Asian countries of India, the Philippines, China, Pakistan, Iran, Syria and South Korea.
India is leading the charge on the list with 536,279 new citizens in the 19 years, followed by the Philippines with 395,694 citizens.
China takes the third spot with 292,325 new citizens, while Pakistan has 180,999 new citizens. Iran has 130,998, followed by the United States of America (USA) with 99,652 and the United Kingdom (UK) has 98,837 new citizens.
The last three spots are occupied by Syria, South Korea and Nigeria with 72,706, 71,939 and 71,459 new citizens, respectively.
Japa wave rising due to socioeconomic uncertainties
The japa wave among Nigerians that reached a crescendo in recent years is not unconnected to many socioeconomic challenges, facing the country. Chief among these challenges are the economic uncertainty, poor social facilities and security and access to global opportunities.
This has led to brain drain, especially in the tech and healthcare sectors, where Nigeria keeps losing her best hands. In March this year, Professor Ali Pate, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, said Nigeria lost 15,000 to 16,000 doctors to japa in five years.
In one year only, Nigeria lost 18,224 healthcare workers to the UK alone, according to the president of Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN), Kabiru Minjibir.
Quoting data from the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives, Minjibir said the number of Nigerian health and care workers who got work visas increased by 215 per cent to reach 26,715 by the end of 2023.
He also said approximately 75,000 Nigerian nurses left Nigeria between 2017 and 2023 to work in countries like the UK, USA, Canada, Saudi Arabia and Australia.
Although there have been interventions by the government, including a declaration of a state of emergency in the health sector by the House of Representatives, it seems they have not yielded any results.
Nigerians react to ‘noise’ about migrating to Canada
Netizens who reacted to the data as published by TheCable on X (formerly Twitter) are wondering why Nigerians are not so much in the North American country going by the amount of publicity and ‘social media noise’ of Nigerians migrating to the country.
They also noted that the situation is not so rosy in most developed countries of the world, as many of their citizens have migrated and become new citizens of Canada in the last 19 years.
@bummiearo tweeted, “Nigerians there not even up to Karu residents in Abuja. So why the noise?” @ridbay tweeted. @joacquimbs said, “Let UK release theirs before we realise that we are making noise online.”
@royalty_Khisz tweeted, “With the noise everywhere in Nigeria about this Canada you’d think Nigerians are the most occupant of that country ni…Noise in media n f2f beer parlor talk would make you think we are the second citizens of the country aside Canadian emsef. We no even dey top 7 🤣🤣🤣”
@ADDEY203 tweeted, “You will think there are millions of Ngns with all the noise we make… In 19 years o.”
Others, including @Hammdriller wrote, “99,000 Americans and 98,000 Britons have japa to Canada. Are their countries happening to them too?”
@iamMacAfeez tweeted, “Wait.. UK people dey japa too?”
@Ola_O_M_ wrote, “At least we now know that it’s not Tinubu that made people to japa. Better countries than Nigeria have more citizens exploring the world.”
@psalmxindynn wrote, “USA & UK happening to their citizens 🤣🤣🤣” @emirate2mix said, “Even American follow dey japa!?”
“APC Impact?” Nigeria’s economy drops to 4th largest in Africa, loses $315.8bn in 10 years
Meanwhile, TheRadar had reported that Nigeria’s economy lost $315.8 billion in the 10 years between 2014 and 2024. It fell from being the first largest economy in Africa to the fourth in the 10-year period.
Between 2023 and April 2024, Nigeria lost an estimated $122.2 billion, dropping from third to the fourth largest economy in Africa.
