Abia State Governor, Alex Otti has advised the leaders in the country to develop programmes and policies that will throw up opportunities comparable to the ones that attract Nigerians to foreign lands.
He said that was the only way to control mass exodus of Nigerians to foreign lands for jobs.
Otti, who said this at his country home in Umuihim, Nvosi, Isiala Ngwa South LGA when he received the executives of Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), said that ‘JAPA syndrome’ had become a reality which could not even be legislated against because according to him, it was a case of supply and demand.
“Once your economy and your system don’t look conducive or don’t look attractive or if other economies are looking better than yours, they will go there, no matter what you do.
“So, the only response you have is to create an enabling environment, create jobs for them and encourage them to stay back,” he said.
Otti also approved a land for the building of Bankers Training Institute in Abia State, as requested by the members of the institute.
Earlier in an address to the Governor, the Public Relations Officer of CIBN, Mr. Kelechi Adiele said that they came to identify with one of their own and discuss various ways of deepening the relationship between the CIBN, the Bankers Committee and the State.
He acknowledged the achievements of the Governor so far in office and thanked him for creating enabling economic and security environment for banking industry in the state which made the banks in Abia to resume Mondays’ operations without fear.
“For instance, prior to your taking over as the Governor of Abia State, banks in Abia State were not working on Mondays.
“This had affected negatively both the turnover of these banks and even the personal security of bankers who more or less had to sneak into the office on Mondays, but today, we move freely even on Mondays,” Mr. Adiele stated.
But the executives of CIBN also raised concerns about the continued exodus of Nigerians to foreign lands in search of better jobs, saying that the situation was affecting the banking sector and the Nigerian economy at large.