Japa and Detty December: why the diaspora flies home, and a virtual way in

Two words sit at opposite ends of the modern Nigerian story. Japa is the word for leaving. Detty December is the season for coming back. Between them is a whole generation living in London, Houston, Toronto and beyond, missing home and flying back when they can. Here is what japa means, why people go, why they return every December, and a virtual way in for the years the flight is out of reach.

What does japa mean?

Japa is a Yoruba word meaning to run away, flee or escape. In everyday Nigerian slang it can mean slipping away from any situation fast, often as a joke. But its big meaning now is emigration: leaving Nigeria for another country in search of a better life, what people call greener pastures.

You will hear it as a verb (“she has japa’d”), a noun (“the japa wave”) and a whole worldview. Somebody “planning japa” is working out how to go.

Why so many young Nigerians are leaving

In recent years, a great many young Nigerians have wanted to go. Reporting from Lagos in January 2023, NPR pointed to a struggling economy, rising insecurity and very high youth unemployment as the push. Nobody has full figures for the latest wave, NPR noted, but it was big enough to be an election issue: one slogan before the 2023 presidential vote was “We cannot all japa; let’s fix Nigeria.”

It is worth saying plainly: japa is not an insult, and not a joke at anyone’s expense. It is a hard decision made by people who love their country and want more than it can currently offer them. Families split across continents. Parents grow older at the end of a video call.

Why the diaspora flies home for Detty December

And then December comes. Detty December is the name for the Lagos festive season, from the start of December into the first weeks of January: concerts, beach days, weddings, family parties and nights out. A big part of its energy comes from the people who japa’d. They are the IJGBs, short for “I Just Got Back”, the teasing, affectionate name for Nigerians who live abroad and fly home for the holidays.

Why December? Christmas and New Year are when families gather anyway; weddings are timed for when everyone is home; and for a few weeks, friends scattered across three continents are in the same city again. The weak naira also means money earned abroad goes further at home, which has its own politics: Al Jazeera reported December price rises and some Lagos residents blaming visitors for them. Our guide what is Detty December? has the full picture, traffic included.

When you cannot fly home

Flights are expensive. Leave is short. Visas and paperwork can make leaving the country you moved to complicated. Some years, the flight home is simply not possible. That is the gap a virtual Lagos night can fill a little: not a substitute for home, but a way to stand in the same place as your friends back there, at the same time.

A virtual way in: party mode in AJ Cities

AJ Cities is a free open-world browser game set on the edge of Ajegunle, Lagos. Its party mode is a live estate party with other real players, and your friends in Lagos can join the same one as you. To be completely clear: this is a virtual party inside the game. There is no real venue, no real date and no real ticket, and nothing in it gets you into a real Detty December event.

1. Open ajcities.com on your phone or computer and choose Party at the estate. Nothing to download. Sign in with your email; you must be 18 or over.
2. Pick a world with your friends: always day, always night, or real Lagos time. Pick the same one and you usually join the same estate, up to 60 players each.
3. Change your look free at the salon and clothes shop by the main gate.
4. Ask the police at the gate. Most nights about four in five guests who ask are let in free. Tickets are optional and last 24 hours.
5. Meet on June 12 Street, then head for Prizm, where Joe-Izzy plays from 9 pm to 1 am Lagos time, or down to the beach party.

The estate radio plays the same song at the same moment for every player, so you and your friends in Lagos hear the same track together. Our guide to Detty December from abroad has the set times in London, New York and Houston.

AJ came back the hard way

The single-player story in AJ Cities is about the other side of japa. AJ was born in Lagos and taken to London as a boy. He grew up in south London, picked up the accent, and never got his papers straight. When immigration checked everyone at a raided party, he was the one who could not prove he was allowed to be there. He was detained and put on a plane.

No IJGB welcome for him. Two weeks after London he is broke on the veranda bench of Iloro House on June 12 Street, people call him “oyinbo”, foreigner, for his London accent, and the gate police want ₦2,500,000 before they will open the gate. It is fiction, but the feeling of coming back to a home that has moved on without you is not. Read AJ’s story, or play it free in your browser, no sign-in needed.

AJ Cities is for adults only, 18+.

What does japa mean?

Japa is a Yoruba word meaning to run away or escape. In Nigerian slang it now mostly means emigrating from Nigeria for a better life abroad.

What does IJGB mean?

“I Just Got Back”: the nickname for Nigerians who live abroad and come home for the December holidays.

Why do Nigerians abroad go home in December?

Christmas and New Year bring families together, weddings are timed for when everyone is home, and Lagos fills with concerts and parties: the season called Detty December.

Is the AJ Cities party a real Detty December event?

No. It is a virtual party inside the game, with no real venue, date or ticket.