Many Nigerian Youths now earn in dollars hence the reluctance to protest – Co-founder Flutterwave

Nigerian tech entrepreneur, Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, says Nigeria’s greatest asset is not crude oil or other natural resources but human capital.

Speaking to newsmen, Aboyeji, the co-founder of unicorn companies Andela and Flutterwave said ‘Japa’ is the best thing that has happened to Nigeria because talents are now being exported — both physically and digitally — without some of these talents leaving the shores of Nigeria. The migration phenomenon from Nigeria to the rest of the world is colloquially known as ‘Japa’ among young people in the country.

The tech guru said that despite the country’s economic hardship and skyrocketing inflation, many youths have shunned protests because they comfortably earn dollars and have their bills sorted.

Aggrieved youths had trooped to the streets in August for the #EndBadGovernance protests and in October for the #FearlessInOctober demonstrations against hunger and high energy costs. They demanded that the Bola Tinubu administration reinstate petrol subsidy and reverse the electricity tariff hike, which has seen energy costs more than quadruple in the last year.

However, Aboyeji said the current administration has no choice but to take those reforms. “What Tinubu has done right is to make energy prices what they actually are. It’s not about protesting. God bless the people protesting but Abuja does not have the solution,” he said.

He said Nigerians should be interested in solutions to sustainable prosperity through human capital development.