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(156): Underreported: Toxic Bosses and Colleagues Cause 'japa' in Nigeria

By Muhsin Ibrahim

It’s only human to prioritise your interests. However, as per my interactions with many fellow Diasporans, many would rather stay and work in Nigeria than in our current host countries. In other words, we want to sacrifice our comfort for the fatherland.

In fact, if given a chance, many of us would remain in Nigeria, with half the welfare we get here, because at least we have more loving family and friends there than we can ever find overseas.

People leave Nigeria not only because of the systemic failure the country is known for. We are resilient people who make do with many problems and fewer resources. For example, despite our infamous “infrastructural deficit”, our entertainment industry is excelling. This is only one example of our success stories under an adverse atmosphere.


Many folks run away from Nigeria because of toxic bosses, colleagues, or both. We complain about “seniority” and “jealousy” in secondary schools, but these are worse in workplaces. But it’s much different and better elsewhere, especially in the West.

Almost everyone works and focuses more on their duties than on other inanities and shenanigans. Here, colleagues are often colleagues and not friends. Yet you also respect one another in the workplace.

As Nigerians, we need to review our relationships with other people in our workplaces. Being a superior doesn’t or shouldn’t give you the right to abuse your underlings. Humans, regardless of their socio-economic class, deserve respect.

I don’t want to discuss specific subjects. Nevertheless, we discussed various intriguing cases during our get-together yesterday. Three of us have PhD, eight are medical doctors, and one is an IT expert. One media specialist and another doctor couldn’t make it. This is only a tiny contingent of professionals living in the West. So, we mostly spoke from (bitter) experiences.

May we see a better Nigeria in our lifetime, amin.

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Location: Cologne, Germany

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