The Chief Executive Officer of the International Facilities Services Limited (IFS) Group, Dr. Tunde Ayeye, yesterday bemoaned the drain on the Nigerian labour force by the ‘Japa’ syndrome, stressing that 80 hospitals were shut down by the group in Victoria Island and Ikoyi axis of Lagos State within two months.

Ayeye made this disclosure in his keynote presentation during the June 2025 Breakfast Forum of the Nigeria-South Africa Chamber of Commerce (NSACC) with the theme: “The Future of Work and Workplace: A Looming Crisis.”

He said: “The point I want to make is that in the last two months our healthcare business has shut down 80 hospitals in Lagos Island alone due to a dearth of skills because of ‘Japa.’ I am not talking about the whole of Lagos State. I mean in Victoria Island and Ikoyi alone because of all these challenges.

“The question we should be asking is whether the graduates we are producing are ready for the labour market?” 

He said that this should be the major conversation the sector should have as business people and as a nation with the hope of coming up with sustainable solutions.

“It is one of the toughest challenges big businesses are facing in the country. The truth of the matter is that I believe that our human capital situation is really at the precipice of a major crisis and we need to address this very decisively in a structured manner,” he said

Ayeye described the mass exodus of skilled manpower out of the country as a manifestation of mental behavior that is characterised by  irrational decisions. “Right now, we have introduced robots because I cannot get good managers,” he said.

In her welcome address the Chairman of NSACC, Dr. Ije Jidenma, said that the theme was urgent because across Africa and the globe, “we are witnessing seismic shifts in how, where, and why we work.”

She added: “Some call it transformation. Others call it disruption. But what we all recognise is that the world of work is keyed for spiralling change that has not been experienced in recent times.”

She said that technological displacement in the form of AI, automation, and digital tools are reshaping job roles faster than the sector is retraining for them.   

A Psychiatrist and the Founder of Life Core Academy, Prof. Adeoye Oyewole, said that it would be good to explore the mental dimension to “Japa” syndrome. 

Oyewole said: “Japa is like a mass delusion. Japa means to flee, to run, to escape, which are only acceptable in the face of war or natural disaster. That is why our people go abroad and seek asylum and after two years come home.”

He also said that the Gen Zs have signs of psychosis because they are more on the cloud, adding that “they are products of the internet, where they draw their information.”

Speaking in the same vein, an Associate Professor and Chief Executive Officer of Precise Financial Systems, Dr. Yele Okeremi,  said that the “Japa” syndrome is being propelled by what is identified in psychology as simply the law of being scared of being left behind.

Okeremi said: “It does not matter whether it looks good or bad, human beings do not want to be left behind. That is the psychology of overly optimistic decisions when the market is booming and overly pessimistic decisions when the market is dooming”.

However, the Director of Human Resources, Airtel Nigeria Limited, Ms. Adebimpe Ayo-Elias, Adebimpe Ayo-Elias, attributed work ethics of the Gen Zs to values children imbibed from their families during their formative age. 

Ayo-Elias said: “We should not stereotype them. They are more interested in the purpose of your organisation and it is incumbent on us to listen to them and foster relationships with the millennials.” 

An Executive Coach, Mr. Fela Durotoye, called for re-alignment of vision because the way the Gen Zs are wired is that they are mission and vision driven. Durotoye said: “If your vision is not strong enough your work offer may attract them but cannot retain them.”