Ali Baba laments Nigerians liquidating investments because of uncertainty
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Standup comic Ali Baba (Atunyota Akpobome) has lamented how Nigerians now liquidate investments and savings to join the japa exodus from Nigeria, where Bola Tinubu’s incompetence and lack of proper planning make life unbearable, with the poor getting poorer and the rich getting bankrupt – and the President looks away as public officials, including lawmakers, steal the treasury dry and live ostentatiously.
Many people in the entertainment industry have left the country in the past few years, Ali Baba said on Channels Television at the weekend, stressing some of those who have emigrated could have survived the economic realities with their talents if the economy had not been unpredictable.
“When I said unpredictable, it is that some things that have been happening are things that people have not prepared for,” he said.
“So, you found out that people are now dipping their hands into savings, if there were any, and trying to manage their resources.
“Also, between January and now, out of 10 people that I said ‘they would not Japa’, you just hear somebody call you later and say, ‘Oh, you know, I’ve not been around’.
“And you say, okay, ‘when are you coming back?’ And they say they’re not coming back.
“I know about four comedians who have travelled and many more in entertainment who have travelled.
“The sad thing is that some of these people who are travelling are some people who seemingly could have survived in the economy because of the talent that they had; the potential, and the opportunities that had come to them.
“So, when you find those kinds of people leaving, they’re now thinking, ‘What do I have over these people that I’m still here? Right? Is it patriotism? Is it family ties? Is it hope and expectations?’
“But many people are liquidating investments and travelling.
“A friend of mine travelled two days after Valentine. We had a Valentine’s party, and he was there. Everything was okay. And then he called me in May to say, ‘Ah, how are you? How are you? How’s Nigeria?’.
“I said, You’re here, too. Then he said he left on February 16.
“I said, What happened? He said that he had weighed it over time, that if he was spending X amount of money raising three of his kids, it would be good if somebody took off the cost of education from him so that he could then express himself in other ways and have a good life.
“He also said that if you raise your children, and after you raise the children at the age of 21, or 22, you still have to take care of them, then it’s good to go to a society where if you raise them to 18, or 20, they can begin to take care of themselves or find work somehow.
“Besides, if you raise them in a certain country, by the time they’ve done four, five, or six years, certainty is what you can say about citizenship. So they then have dual citizenship, and you’ve opened more opportunities for them to survive and succeed.”
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