Faith, flight, and futures: religion and the <i>Japa</i> migration of Nigerian youth

Japa is a Yoruba term used colloquially to denote a phenomenon in which young Nigerians emigrate with a high sense of urgency, distinguishing it from earlier migration forms. While existing studies often foreground economic, social, political, environmental, and security drivers, this paper examines how religion animates and organises the japa phenomenon. The paper proposes the “faith-flight-futures” triad to theorise the religious legitimation and spiritual infrastructure behind migration aspirations, thereby challenging dominant economic accounts of African youth migration. Drawing on multi-sited ethnography, comprising left-behind in-depth interviews (n = 35), focus group discussions (n = 24), key informant/expert interviews (n = 10), ethnographic observations, and field notes, we analyse participants’ religious beliefs, practices, and spiritual experiences. The findings reposition religion from post-arrival adaptation to a constitutive driver and capability in youth mobility, illuminating how spiritual imaginaries convert into infrastructures and outcomes. Religion legitimates departure (faith), equips movement (flight), and sustains imagined futures, challenging purely economic and political accounts.