The Federal Government, through the National Orientation Agency (NOA), plans to spend N252 million on an anti-japa campaign, including sensitisation programmes and training initiatives targeting youths in select states.
A SaharaReporters’ review of the 2026 Nigerian budget document has revealed that the anti-japa campaign seeks to promote awareness about opportunities in Nigeria and discourage irregular migration among young Nigerians as part of a broader national orientation effort linked to the government’s ongoing anti-japa campaign efforts.
According to the document, a sensitisation programme on available opportunities in Nigeria against ‘Japa Syndrome’ in Kebbi State is expected to cost N77 million.
Further review shows that “training for youths on the opportunities in Nigeria against Japa Syndrome in Calabar Municipal/Odukpani Federal Constituency, Cross River State” is expected to cost N35 million.
Another N140 million was budgeted for a “youth sensitisation program on available opportunities in Nigeria against Japa Syndrome in Owan Federal Constituency.”
In total, N252 million will be spent across the three locations.
The budget review also highlighted other major allocations, including N3.5 billion for “sensitisation against drug addiction, female genital mutilation and domestic violence against women and children in the North West Nigeria,” and N350 million for sensitisation and enlightenment of primary and secondary school students on the “basic duties and responsibilities of citizens, civic and political education.”
In October 2025, the Nigerian Federal Government launched a comprehensive sensitisation programme against irregular migration, unveiling a N110 billion investment fund as support for youth empowerment.
During a goodwill message at the Youth Creative Conference in Abuja themed “Silencing the Guns, Tomorrow is Now,” organised by the Ministry of Youth Development in collaboration with the African Union (AU) and ECOWAS, the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Atiku Bagudu, urged youths to stop illegal migration, assuring that the government had put empowerment measures in place.
In September 2025, NOA Director-General, Lanre Issa-Onilu, also stated that the agency planned to reach at least three million Nigerians daily in its nationwide sensitisation campaign.
Speaking through Mrs Margaret Yenemi at a press briefing in Lokoja, he said the campaign would focus on five thematic areas, including government policies and programmes, disaster management, national value reorientation for students, national security awareness, and the Nigerian identity project.
“In these five areas of concern, we intend to sensitise three million Nigerians daily,” the agency stated.